Like this page for news about our plans and the space industry. Prestwick Spaceport, a joint partnership between Glasgow Prestwick Airport and South Ayrshire Council, aims to become the premier launch location in Europe, offering horizontal launches of orbital and sub-orbital missions for:
– small satellite launches
– microgravity experiments
- potentially, crewed missions for human spaceflight (f
easibility
currently being explored)
We are in the ideal location for ‘air launch’ due to strong transport links, a more than favourable climate for launches and a strong heritage of innovation and engineering expertise. The spaceport forms a key part of a growing ecosystem of companies and talent that will act as a catalyst to stimulate economic activity around space, boosted by multi-million pound Ayrshire Growth Deal funding. Glasgow Prestwick Airport and the surrounding site can meet the needs of industry with many established aerospace businesses on our doorstep – Scotland’s largest aerospace centre of excellence - and availability to accommodate many more on site. With the Space Industry Act now in place and a regulatory framework well under development for launch from UK soil, we will work towards our first launch in late 2023. The space industry is predicted to be worth £400bn globally by 2030 and the UK aims to secure 10% of that global market, with launch a key enabler for a fast-growing satellite market, with operators of technology no larger than a shoebox looking to access “Low Earth Orbit” (LEO) to carry out activities that include monitoring climate change, tracking deforestation and identifying illegal fishing or mining activities around the globe.
