The Sustainable Aviation Test Environment (SATE), part of the UKRI Future Flight Challenge, has established the UK’s first operationally based low-carbon aviation test centre, based at Kirkwall Airport on Orkney. Led by the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS), SATE brings together a national consortium of industry partners, public sector bodies and academia which work with a range of regional businesses and stakeholders to apply state-of-the-art aviation technology to deliver targeted economic growth.
While the SATE facilities are based at Kirkwall Airport, SATE is working across several Highlands & Islands communities and matching the new technology with practical use cases to benefit the region.