Prestwick Spaceport to Become Flagship of Scotland Space Industry

As if to compete with other space launch companies such as Virgin Orbit and SpaceX, Prestwick Spaceport signed MoU with Astraius to combine their technological power and offer high altitude rocket launches. The Memorandum of Understanding will allow both companies to take advantage of each other’s technology to manufacture and launch small satellites into orbit from a horizontal position without a launch pad.

The Scottish Spaceport is hoping to capitalise on market demand

The global space Industry is quickly reaching a state of oversaturation, with a few large companies holding monopolies on rocket launches and a hundred smaller companies fighting for contracts. The consortium of Prestwick Spaceport and Astraius is one of many joint ventures taking advantage of the boom in the space market.

Launch sites are planned to be built all over the UK, right after regulations that permit space flights and satellite launches come into full force in July. The consortium received funding from local and national organisations in the form of £80 million. The scottish spaceport is hoping to take advantage of a growing need for small-satellite manufacturers and satellite carriers. If the project is successful, it will bring more than £4 billion in revenue over the next decade.

Prestwick Spaceport is set to bring the Scotland Space sector ahead of the competition

The Scottish satellite manufacturing program produces more satellites than anywhere in the world, except for California. Prestwick Spaceport will function as a symbol of Scottish ingenuity and help stimulate a growing ecosystem of British companies.

Ivan McKee, Scotland’s Minister for Business, said he had high hopes for the UK Spaceport in Prestwick. According to him, signing MoU with Astraius is an important milestone for Prestwick Spaceport and a great leap forward for introducing horizontal launches in the Scotland space sector.