UK spaceport in Prestwick: We are ready for take-off

Great Britain is currently in the TOP 10 countries leading the space industry and that’s before we have built the UK Spaceport. The country is currently occupying around 70% of the small satellite market in Europe, having a developed satellite manufacturing sector. At the same time, the launch services segment is practically on hold, although the country has everything it needs for its development. Let’s not forget what makes UK already well positioned for a Spaceport:

• The convenient geographical location of the British Isles to launch the satellites into polar and solar-synchronous orbits
• The developed airport infrastructure, which can be used to start building the horizontal launch sites
• Many space institutions and private aerospace companies that are already preparing – building launch vehicles, ground systems & launch pads.
• An existing independent Space Agency
• The will of the British government and investors to ut funds into the space sector development 
• The lack of launch sites in Europe 

So the UK has all the chances of becoming the first European country that will have its own launch network, which will then complete the full cycle of space services varying from creating small satellites to launching them into orbit. 

UK Launch Locations

South-West England, Wales, and Scotland have been selected among many other promising places to start building the launch sites. Scotland is currently leading the number of projects because there are more suitable location. Space Hub in Sutherland, Shetland Space Centre and Glasgow Prestwick are scheduled to be built there. The latter is noteworthy because it is to be created on the base of the airport, and is going to be used for horizontal launches rather than vertical. In addition to putting payloads into orbit, Glasgow Prestwick has spoken about conducting micro gravitation experiments as well as suborbital passenger fares by 2030.

Glasgow Prestwick Spaceport plans to obtain a license in the near future and has been actively seeking cooperation with anyone who is interested in the space future of the UK and Scotland. Today, Prestwick Spaceport partners are:

• Satellite developer Clyde Space
• Launch Operator Orbital Access, Astrosat
• Software and component developers Axon, Star Dundee, Trak.
• Research Institutes of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and many others 

As it is stated in the Glasgow Prestwick Spaceport team, the UK Spaceport in Prestwick is very well positioned to operate very efficiently and can provide an economic boost, not only to the local area, but which will contribute hundreds of millions of pounds to the UK economy. The UK Government have a goal of achieving 10% of the Global space market.