Craig Berry, engineer and author of a Common Weal report on Scotland’s Space Industry, explores the potential openings for the space sector north of the border after Sutherland was selected for the first UK spaceport – to stay ahead of US and emerging market competition will require a level of public investment and European co-ordination not currently forthcoming under the Tories

Sutherland has been touted as an alternative site

SHETLAND SPACE CENTRE (SSC) is seeking to win support to become the pre-eminent site for space satellite launches, and therefore potentially the first spaceport in the UK.

The site in Unst on the Shetland Islands, called Saxa Vord, is currently an RAF site which received £10m in funding for a remote radar facility in January this year.

MP pushes for promotion of Scotland’s space industry ahead of Commons debate

DR PHILIPPA WHITFORD, SNP MP for Central Ayrshire, has highlighted the “enormous potential” of Scotland’s growing space industry ahead of Commons debate on the bill to create the first spaceport in Britain.

Whitford sits on the Westminster All-Party Parliamentary Space Committee and aims to use Monday’s debate on the Space Industry Bill to call attention to Scotland’s role in the sector.