The UK government has whittled the potential locations for its own spaceport down to eight as it looks to begin launching commercial spaceplane flights from 2018.
A 12-week consultation has been launched to settle on one of the sites, with a decision…
The UK government has whittled the potential locations for its own spaceport down to eight as it looks to begin launching commercial spaceplane flights from 2018.
A 12-week consultation has been launched to settle on one of the sites, with a decision expected before the end of the year.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “Exploring the opportunities that commercial spaceflight presents, and potentially making strategic investments in this area, will support the growth of this thriving industry and underpin the economy of tomorrow, making the UK the place for space.”
According to the government, the space industry currently contributes around £11.3bn (US$19.4bn) to the UK economy each year and supports nearly 35,000 jobs. Industry figures suggest commercial spaceflight could be worth £1bn (US$1.72bn) annually to UK-based suppliers within 20 years, while potentially being worth £10bn-£20bn (US$17.27bn- US$34.33bn) to the country’s economy after then.
A spokeswoman for the UK’s space agency said: “Spaceplanes are widely acknowledged as the most likely means of enabling commercial spaceflight experience and scientific payloads in the near future. In the longer term, they also have the potential to transform the costs and flexibility of satellite launches, and for the delivery of cargo into space.
“Initial assessments indicate sizeable potential returns to the UK economy, as well as large spillovers in the medium to long term. These would not be captured by the investing firms but would instead radiate out through the UK economy.
“If spaceplanes are operated from the UK, then there is strong potential for operators to base themselves here – which would provide knock-on benefits for a range of related industries. As space is a research and development-intensive sector, there could also be significant benefits for UK Science and innovation.”
She said the cost to develop a spaceport relies heavily on where it is based and the state of any usable facilities that are already there.
The eight coastal locations that could be used for a spaceport are Scotland’s Campbeltown Airport, Glasgow Prestwick Airport, Kinloss Barracks, RAF Leuchars, RAF Lossiemouth, Stornorway Airport; England’s Newquay Cornwall Airport and Llanbedr Airport in Wales.
