UK spaceport to be built by 2018

The UK government has said it plans to build a spaceport in the country by 2018. It will be the first of its kind outside the US.
According to the BBC, eight aerodromes have been shortlisted and Scotland is home to six of the potential locations. The spaceport will be built at a remote site where regular air traffic is low.

It will require a longer-than usual runway of up to 3,000 metres or more because spaceplanes travel at far greater speeds than standard planes and need more room to land, New Scientist reported.

The spaceport could be used to launch satellites as well as for commercial spaceflights. The government hopes that the port will be a part of Virgin Galactic's space tourism business, according to the Independent.

Virgin Galactic's first flights are scheduled to take off from a spaceport in New Mexico at the end of the year.

The £120,000 trip will allow passengers to travel to a height of around 100 km and allow them to experience about six minutes of zero-gravity in a tiny spacecraft.

Virgin says it wants to open spaceports in other countries and has already had talks with Scottish ministers about developing a site at Lossiemouth, the Guardian reported.