Speakers

Speaker profile

Debbie Strang is a founder Director and the Deputy CEO of SaxaVord Spaceport in Unst, Shetland, the UK’s first vertical facility with access to sun-synchronous and polar orbits. The Spaceport License was awarded in December 2023 and the Range License in March 2024. Building on successful engine tests with German company HyImpulse and French company Latitude, Rocket Factory Augsburg continues integrated systems testing and continue to build to a first vertical launch in late 2025. The highly specialised and rapidly growing team currently stands close to 100 and the operational staff are well on their way to developing the systems and processes to enable 30 launches per year from 3 launch pads. Debbie is a former RAF Operations Officer, worked for the Cairngorms National Park as Economic Development Manager and 10 years ago set up the UK’s most northerly distillery in Unst, creating award-winning Shetland Reel Gin, which is located less than 2 miles from the launch site.