The UK may have a spaceport within four years — and it will probably be in the northern reaches of Scotland. The plan to have a UK spaceport up and running by 2018 is expected to be announced by the government’s science minister this week, with six potential sites — four of which are in rural Scotland, where it won’t matter so much if spaceplanes crash back to earth — on the shortlist.
The existing transport base at Lossiemouth is said to be one of the places Virgin Galactic has already put forward as a possible spaceport location, with Bristol’s Filton airfield another option. Either way, the UK is clearly joining the commercial space race, too. [Guardian]
