'We built a spaceport on a Scottish island'
The site, and overall project, is today owned by SaxaVord Spaceport, a company with 400 shareholders and more than 80 staff.
But then the UK government's Pathfinder mission to create spaceports across the UK opened up a new opportunity. "To overcome this we have recruited very able people with transferable skills who are adaptable, determined and patient to work with the myriad of public agencies to find out how we plan, develop and build the spaceport.
To date, the project has secured £20m in equity, £10m in debt and loans, along with a large development bond. Elsewhere in the UK, there is Spaceport Cornwall in south west England and plans for Spaceport Snowdonia in Wales.It will be a test mission to send a rocket made by German company HyImpulse up to a height of 29 miles .
However it's remoteness is one of the reasons Unst could soon be something of a super highway into space.