Author Topic: Scotland could be base for spaceport, says UK government  (Read 846 times)

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Offline EC

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Scotland could be base for spaceport, says UK government
« on: July 13, 2014, 08:28:34 am »
Scotland could host the UK's first dedicated base for spaceplanes, according to new government plans.

Ministers want to establish the UK spaceport by 2018 - the first of its kind outside of the US.

Eight aerodromes have been shortlisted and Scotland has six of the potential locations.

The Scottish government said only independence would lead to a greater development of the country's space industry.

For ministers and the space industry, the major interest in a UK spaceport is as a facility to enable satellite launches, but hopefully it would also become a centre for the new tourism initiatives from specialist operators such as Virgin Galactic and XCor.

Ahead of the announcement at this week's Farnborough Airshow, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander hinted that Scotland could become a key player in the UK government's future plans for developing commercial space travel.

He said: "I am delighted that the government is pushing forward with its ambitious plans to open a spaceport in the UK by 2018. Spaceports will be key to us opening up the final frontier of commercial space travel.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-28276525
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Oceander

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Re: Scotland could be base for spaceport, says UK government
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2014, 03:34:07 am »
seriously?  aren't orbital launch facilities usually placed a little closer to the equator?

Offline Chieftain

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Re: Scotland could be base for spaceport, says UK government
« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2014, 04:21:47 am »
seriously?  aren't orbital launch facilities usually placed a little closer to the equator?

Yes, because the energy needed to achieve orbit at the equator is considerably less than that needed for a launch from Scotland.

Moving on....


Oceander

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Re: Scotland could be base for spaceport, says UK government
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2014, 04:25:20 am »
Yes, because the energy needed to achieve orbit at the equator is considerably less than that needed for a launch from Scotland.

Moving on....



Exactly my point.  I guess real estate closer to the equator is just too dear for the British to manage?

Offline EC

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Re: Scotland could be base for spaceport, says UK government
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2014, 09:17:17 am »
We gave up our equatorial real estate some time back.  :shrug:

Scotland could work - Cheif has a far better idea of if this is actually feasible, but a catapult/linear accelerator  running up the side of one of the mountains? It's been suggested a few times and could negate the extra fuel costs of breaking orbit.
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