UK Spaceport

http://www.economicpolicycentre.com/tag/xcor/

Interesting -

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Yes, the UK will need a spaceport

They are making it far more complicated than need be.

Just wave a regulatory magic wand and declare the most convenient Southern English airport a "space port" (preferably away from a metro area), for the waves of any day now rocketships and space cadets to start paying fees to use.

With a lack of pre-defined regulation (UK bureaucrats are slacking!), I am surprised that some enterprising airport operator hasn't taken it upon themselves to just start calling themselves and marketing their facility as a "space port".

I wish to hell we could in the US without getting hamstrung by red tape and "impact studies".

Well, the UK has about 1.5 times the population density of the state of New York. Try building a space port on Long Island . Environmental impact assessment rules are probably stronger in Europe than in the US, and the NIMBY issues are going to be one heck of a lot more difficult for the UK than for Texas (about 15% population density of the UK) or New Mexico (2.5%).

It depends on what kind of spaceport we are talking about. Is it KSC launching heavy lift boosters, or Virgin flying SS2 flights or even the big sucker doing orbital shots? Big differences.

I think the prospect of building a conventional launch complex anywhere in Britain is rather silly for the reasons mentioned. But if you think that the trend for the future is for winged things, that should have no greater impact than current military activity. That was kind of the context of my post.

If the "UK" does want its own rocket launch complex, they should dust off Woomera, Cape York, or some other site in NE Australia.

http://www.zdnet.com/uk-space-investmen ... 000007796/

UK space investment to rocket
Summary: Britain is to take its first steps in manned space exploration as part of a massive billion-pound boost, following ESA negotiations over investment and funding. "Space is big," says minister David Willetts.