News UK plans spaceport by 2020.

[RGClark]

INNOVATION.
The UK could launch satellites from its own spaceport by 2020.
by Colm Gorey

The UK’s universities and science minister, Jo Johnson, said : “We really do stand at the dawn of a very exciting era. This is a big and incredibly exhilarating moment for this country.”
The UK Space Agency’s CEO, Katherine Courtney, added: “Together, we are working to embrace the emerging small satellite launch market to capture a share of the £25bn global opportunity.
“I’m confident that 2020 will see the first launches from British soil, and we’re working hard to make that a reality.”
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/inn...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

and:

Blast off from Britain.

"It may be that a low-cost, rapid-response, small launcher meshes perfectly with the UK’s vibrant and strong small/nano satellite industry – enabling both to soar to greater heights."
https://www.aerosociety.com/news/blast-off-from-britain/

This is great news. Small orbital launchers are not that difficult to do actually. First, suborbital rockets can be done even by just pressure-fed engines. For instance, Armadillo Aerospace came quite close at a 95 km altitude launch with their Stig-A rocket before they ran out of money:

Sunday, February 26, 2012
Stiga flight 2 - to 95km by Armadillo Aerospace.
http://highpowerrocketry.blogspot.com/2012/02/stiga-flight-2-to-95km-by-armadillo.html

Then once you have a suborbital rocket, you can get an orbital launcher by using triple cores:

Orbital rockets are now easy.
Copyright 2015 Robert Clark
http://exoscientist.blogspot.com/2015/08/orbital-rockets-are-now-easy.html

Bob Clark

 

[Notebook]

Lift-off for Scotland: Sutherland to host first UK spaceport

Still 2020, they might make it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44841123

Location:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...5b:0xb9ea793de3befe35!8m2!3d58.5!4d-4.5500001

N,

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Northbound launches only, I assume?

 

[Notebook]

Strange place to put it, but anywhere in the UK isn't ideal. There is a big continent to the East!

Been thought of previously, and that was before the North Sea got populated with oil platforms:

http://www.spaceuk.org/bstreak/bs/cumbria.htm

Hope it goes well, be fun to go up and have a watch.

N.

 

[Nicholas Kang]

Cool. Now I have a valid reason to study in the UK.

@Mav: Ya, northbound launch. Targeting SSO and high-inclination orbit. Not sure if it is economically feasible though. (Maybe another project similar to the Mahia Peninsula launch facility owned by RocketLab?). I do know Lockheed Martin is one of the potential investors in this Scotland project.

 

[Col_Klonk]

I'd think the UK has more pressing problems (like NHS.. etc) than Crowd-Funding, promotional videos.

It'll be cheaper and more sensible to rent time from Kourou. :tiphat:

 

[Notebook]

Woomera would be more fun..

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwXLkKrk-Ko"]Blue Streak - Two, One, Zero! (1964) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[N_Molson]

Don't want to bring politics into this but with the Brexit going on... seems a bit like "we don't need Kourou" indeed... Not sure where they are going to find the money...

 

[Notebook]

You don't need Brexit, this won't happen. There is no money for it, its just something for the various Ministers to pontificate at Farnborough2018 first trade day.

Best space chances for the UK are Reaction Engines Sabre, and its existing satellite production.

Not that I'm a cynic or anything....

N.