The Six Nations rugby championship kicked off over this weekend; with England, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy all competing to take the trophy from Ireland, the reigning champions. On Saturday, millions watched as England beat Scotland, and there will more UK-based scrumming when Wales takes on Scotland this weekend.
It is not only rugby where England, Scotland and Wales are currently competing for a prize – the three countries are in the running to become the site of Britain’s first spaceport. The Government aims to have a spaceport set up by 2018, paving the way towards making commercial spaceflight operations in the UK a reality.
Following a consultation process, a shortlist of possible locations for the first UK spaceport was published in 2015: Campbeltown, Glasgow Prestwick, and Stornoway in Scotland; Newquay in England and Llanbedr in Wales.
An announcement on which of the six sites will be chosen is expected later this year, with RAF Leuchars confirmed as a potential temporary facilitiy. The site must be able to handle vertical lift-off rockets and provide good visibility for take-off. All six sites are on the coast, where planes could operate over water and minimise any inconvenience or noise to the public.
The emergence of a new breed of low-cost rocket planes that can launch fare-paying passengers to sub-orbital altitudes might sound like the plot of a Doctor Who episode, but the UK space industry has grown by 27% since 2010 and generates a turnover of £11bn. By 2030, the global space economy is expected to be worth £400bn a year and the UK Government hopes it can secure £40bn annually from the space sector. The hope is that, by building a spaceport in the next few years, the UK will be able to ride on the first wave of emerging space travel technology.
