Construction has begun in Moray on the first orbital space launch pad to be built in the UK for 50 years.

Orbex, a rocket manufacturer based in Forres, has commissioned Banff engineering firm Motive Offshore Group to build the pad at the test site near Kinloss.

The platform will support the testing of Orbex’s plans to launch its ‘Prime rocket’ – a micro-launcher designed to transport small satellites to low Earth orbit.

It is the first launchpad to be built in the UK since the High Down Rocket Test Site on the Isle of Wight, which shut in the 1970s.