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How to build a spaceport


Around 250 kilometres off the north coast of Scotland, the Shetland isle of Unst undergoing a dramatic renovation. On a peninsula flanked by giant cliffs and open ocean, builders are constructing a spaceport. They call the project SaxaVord. They say it could host the first-ever vertical rocket launches from Western Europe. It’s a bold objective that welcomes auspicious signs. One was discovered just this summer; another was already known when the team laid their founding stone.  “It’s going from the Bronze Age to the Space Age. Over 1,000 years ago, the locals say, Unst became the first footfall of the…

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