Britain’s first spaceport to be built on Scottish coast

THE UK’S first spaceport is to be built on a peninsula on Scotland’s north coast, it was announced last night.

Vertical rocket and satellite launches are planned from the A’mhoine peninsula in Sutherland, paving the way for space flights.

The UK Space Agency said the site, between Tongue and Durness, was chosen as it was the best place in the UK to reach highly sought-after satellite orbits with vertically launched rockets. Highlands and Islands Enterprise will be given £2.5million from the UK Government to develop the spaceport, which could be up and running by the early 2020s.

Sutherland is the first vertical launch site to be awarded grant money ahead of other vertical sites at Unst, Shetland, and North Uist in the Western Isles.

The Government also announced a new £2million development fund for horizontal launch spaceports across the UK at sites including Prestwick in Ayrshire; Newquay in Cornwall; Campbeltown in Argyll and Bute; and Llanbedr in Gwynedd, Wales, subject to a successful business case.

The cash is aimed at boosting the UK’S sub-orbital flight, satellite launch and spaceplane ambitions.

The space agency said the space flight market was potentially worth £3.8billion to the British economy over the next decade.

Graham Turnock, the agency’s chief executive, said the spaceport grant would “help kick-start an exciting new era for the UK space industry”.