A spaceport is coming to the United Kingdom, as the British government has approved the first one ever in Europe.
Early speculation was that the spaceport would be built in Wales, but those appear to be just rumors at the moment as the government has narrowed the list of potential locations to the following:
Campbeltown, Glasgow Prestwick, and Stornoway in Scotland, Newquay in England, and Llanbedr in Wales.
Apparently, a Royal Air Force base is also in the running to house the new facility, which will not be operational until sometime in 2018.
Part of the spaceport initiative is to elevate the UK as a world leader in commercial space travel, in addition to offering super-fast international flights.
“I want Britain to lead the way in commercial spaceflight,” said Robert Goodwill, the UK’s aviation minister. “Establishing a spaceport will ensure we are at the forefront of this exciting new technology.”
There are grand plans for the spaceport, but all we have is the rendering of what it could look like at the moment.
Until the Department for Transport nails down what the spaceport can and cannot offer/do, we can only dream of SpaceX launching from the new site.
Companies involved in the project believe if all goes to plan, the spaceport can cut the travel time from the UK to Australia from 14 hours to merely two! I can’t wait to see what happens…
