THE CEO of a Highlands spaceport has died just a few months before its first official launch.
Frank Strang, CEO of SaxaVord SpacePort in Shetland, was diagnosed with cancer last month, aged 67.
Prior to his death, the former RAF officer said the prognosis of his diagnosis was between six months to two years.
According to BBC reports, he said: "We've all seen stories of people who have been diagnosed with a few months and five or six years later they are still going.
"The bottom line is we don't know what the end result will be."
He co-founded SaxaVord alongside his wife, Debbie, and Scott Hammond on the site of a former RAF station on the island of Unst.
The company was officially launched in 2017, becoming the first fully licensed vertical launch spaceport in the UK, and is preparing for its first launch later this year or in early 2025.
In a statement released on the SaxaFord website, Mr Strang was described as having an “unorthodox style, with his long hair and cowboy boots” and a “legendary drive” which helped lead the space firm to success.
Hammond, who will take over the position of CEO, said: “I have been a friend and colleague of Frank since our days together in the RAF, so his death so young is an enormous blow both personally and professionally.
“When we first identified the prospects for a spaceport at Lamba Ness in Unst, Frank would not take no for an answer and broke through barriers that would have deterred lesser people.
“He was a real force of nature, and his vision and his grit got us to where we are today, bringing the Unst and Shetland communities, investors and government with us.
“But our mission is not complete – my job now is to deliver not only the first launch but successive launches that establish the UK as Europe’s leader in access to space.
“Both myself and the SaxaVord team feel a strong sense of responsibility to deliver that goal for Frank, and we will, I am in no doubt.
“We are determined to make the UK Europe’s leader in vertical launch spaceflight. That will be Frank’s legacy, for Shetland, for Scotland and the UK.”
