Scotland will be spaceport base

Scotland has declared its readiness to build a base, which is scheduled to be ready until 2018, reports BBC. This base will be the first spacecraft port of its kind located outside the United States, writes Rufabula.com.

The list of possible sites for the base includes eight UK airports, six of which are in Scotland. The Scottish Government claims that the space industry development in the country can only improve its independence.

In addition, the base can become the center of a new kind of tourism, carried out by specialized operators such as Virgin Galactic and XCor Companies. According to the Finance Minister Danny Alexander, Scotland can play a key role in the development of commercial space travel.

Earlier this week, the Ukube-1 satellite created by Clyde Space Company from Glasgow was successfully launched from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. It became the first spacecraft fully assembled in Scotland.