MORAY has taken a giant leap towards becoming the home of the UK’s first spaceport.
Coalition ministers at Westminster have created a special taskforce to drive forward plans to build a base to launch rockets, satellites and even tourists into orbit.
Kinloss Barracks is understood to be a front-runner in the race to land the potentially lucrative facility – and it could be operational within five years.
Moray has already been described as the “obvious” location for the spaceport because it has military airfields with long runways which are close to the coast and have a relatively clear path north over the sea.
UK Government Science Minister David Willetts signalled in November that Kinloss would fit the bill.
He said he could “imagine a location in Scotland where RAF bases are moving away”, where “you could launch vehicles across the North Sea”. He dropped a fresh hint yesterday as he set up the National Space Flight Co-ordination Group to draw-up detailed plans for the first spaceport in Britain. Ruling out the south-east of England as a location, he said: “We want an area where there is not much civil airspace, where it is not very busy.
“It might be smaller airports, it might be underused or disused RAF airfields. We’re starting to look at relatively remote parts of the country.”
The Conservative minister also pledged to deliver legal and regulation changes to help quadruple the size of the UK space sector so it is worth £40billion by 2030.
The UK Government had previously earmarked RAF Lossiemouth as a preferred location for a spaceport, and the base was also viewed by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic company as a potential launch site for space tourism in Europe.
The decision to retain Lossiemouth as an RAF base and move Typhoon fast-jet squadrons there has made it a less likely location for the port.
However, there is plenty of spare capacity at nearby Kinloss, with about 700 Army engineers occupying the 1,828-acre estate, compared to 1,570 RAF personnel and the Nimrod fleet before 2011.
Patrick Harkness, a Glasgow University lecturer in space systems engineering, said: “I would expect that the north of Scotland is a very strong contender. The UK is well placed to develop the technologies and launch vehicles to facilitate this spaceport endeavour.
“What could be more exciting than building rockets and sending them into space?”
Virgin Galactic is due to start launching from New Mexico, but also wants a base in Europe. A site in northern Sweden is currently the company’s preferred location, however Mr Willetts has said he would like Sir Richard to consider the UK’s port.
Potentially more lucrative for Moray would be the ability to launch smaller-scale satellites from the site for commercial and academic ventures, creating major opportunities for the region and the country.
Moray MP Angus Robertson said: “Moray sites have been linked to this potential development for some time – and we know it is definitely a contender as a location.
“It would be a major economic boost for the area and would certainly lead to other spin-off investments in cutting-edge technologies.”
Ali Simpson, president of Moray Chamber of Commerce, said: “With ready-made infrastructure at RAF Lossiemouth and the former RAF base at Kinloss, Moray is well-placed to be considered as an international spaceport.
“In addition to these assets, Moray has a skilled and experienced workforce, many of whom have aviation experience from their service with the RAF.
“We are certain that the Moray business community would rise to the challenges and opportunities afforded by such an exciting development.”
The taskforce will report back to the UK Government in July.
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