UK spaceport, phase two: Now where do we PUT the bleeding thing? The UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has narrowed its shortlist of potential locations for Europe's first spaceport, which would provide a UK base for future commercial space flights and satellite launches. In response to a three-month consultation on the plans, the UK government said that it had received "widespread …
North coast of Scotland would work for conventional launches to polar orbits, with only Svalbard in the way. Other inclinations favour equatorial, so Diego Garcia BIOT would be a candidate. Although I suppose there must be a reason that the UK chose Woomera and not BIOT for its last and only previous orbital launch.
If we don't actually know what form the orbital space planes of the future will take, or has Aland Bond managed to make more progress than we know?
Failed birds and spent stages from Canaveral or Kourou tend to come down in mid-Atlantic, failed launches from the UK?
Somewhere in Eastern France maybe, around Strasbourg?
Hmm, suddenly I can maybe see why the Govt wanted to include the more southerly locations as an option...
ailed launches from the UK?
Depending on the location - Central and south Eastern Europe and parts of Middle East or thereabouts. Out of all possible Eu locations Britain is one of the most useless.
There are reason you know why Russians are building their new facility all the way on the Pacific Ocean coast.
So if there is to be another (besides Kuru) Eu facility, Azores are probably the best location - lots of sea folllowed by Sahara desert Eastwards from there. If the facility is to be "100% British", then Ascencion island is the best choice. It has the right size of runway too and complies will all other criteria.
Chris Miller wrote:
The other requirement is a good deal of unoccupied area to the west of the site.
To the east, so that you get a boost from the rotation of the earth. Unless you want a hazardous retrograde orbit, with things coming at you head on at up to 36,000 miles per hour. Only the Isreali's have had to do that so far due to unfriendly nations to the east, which might construe a launch over their territories as an attack.
I dunno why we'd need runways. Everyone knows that British rockets will launch from a rocket sled riding on rails (possibly using maglev, but that was never explained in the show).
And with their usual impeccable timing, they just sold the East Coast mainline back to private hands. That would have been perfect, nice long run-up and all that. Although having to stop every few miles for leaves on the line, broken trains and freight might I guess put a crimp on things somewhat...
Surely you mean unoccupied land to the east not west? The atlantic is to the east of cape canaveral. As for a British overseas territory near the equator, Diego Garcia is pretty much taken over by the USAF and is a key ground site for the USA GPS system, however Ascension Island is closer (Atlantic) and is a similar distance south of the equator, 7°56', and it has the perfect name.
So, what, Lizard Point then?
I dunno why we'd need runways. Everyone knows that British rockets will launch from a rocket sled riding on rails (possibly using maglev, but that was never explained in the show).
Can't wait to be issued with my flying motor scooter.
"Everyone knows that British rockets will launch from a rocket sled riding on rails"
I never really understood why they landed the main craft each time they returned to Space City when for most of their extra-terrestrial visits they used Junior and left the rest in orbit.
"I never really understood why they landed the main craft each time they returned to Space City when for most of their extra-terrestrial visits they used Junior and left the rest in orbit."
There are only two seats in Junior. Professor Matthew Matic needs to get out and stretch his legs too, you know, and the Lazoon needs to be let out for a crap sometime.
Islands are a terrible place to put your... well anything big that requires frequent large imports. There's a reason we built the Cape Canaveral space port in Florida and not in Hawai'i. To build the space port in Hawai'i, first we'd have to ship in ALL the building materials. Then, we'd have to ship every last piece of the rocket/shuttle to the island. Sending it by ship isn't too much more expensive than the rail we currently use, but it's a lot slower. Sending it by plane is fast, but expensive.
You really want your space port on the same piece of land as all your manufacturing facilities.
We (the UK) don't have any manufacturing facilities for large rockets - because we don't build large rockets. Or small rockets. Or any rockets.
Moreover, Arianespace don't build their rockets in French Guiana. They manage to ship stuff across an ocean. Compared to the complexity of funding, designing, building and launching a meaningfully-sized launch vehicle, moving the bits around is a minor logistical challenge.
Ascension Island is potentially very attractive. Politically it's not going to happen though, because at the end of the day this whole project isn't about serious space, it's about space tourism.
"Moreover, Arianespace don't build their rockets in French Guiana. They manage to ship stuff across an ocean."
It's a _lot_ easier to move stuff to a launch site via sea than rail. No pesky tunnels limiting diameter for starters. The current USA setup is all about Pork Barrels, not practicality.
In the 1960s a lot of seriously large stuff was shipped to Canaveral by barge.
I seem to recall Peter F Hamilton having floating runways anchored offshore in the Atlantic which had spaceflight capability. That would seem logical enough - and it means you can launch in any direction by just turning the ship around or sailing it south for equatorial launches.
Pykrete might be a plausible base, or just build it like a scaled up oil platform out of a number of segments.
Since they seem to be thinking about spaceplanes, it wouldn't have a 'traditional' first stage drop. The west coast and northern tip locations might have been chosen to ensure that a failed launch landed in the Atlantic rather that mainland Europe or Scandinavia. I assume they'll aim it to avoid overflying Ireland.
Not wanting to put a dampener on this, but shouldn't we have a space vehicle before we build a spaceport? But the UK government has also managed to build aircraft carriers without aircraft, so maybe it's just being consistent.
I'm guessing that the target is a facility for a Skylon, or similar, vehicle rather than a rocket launching facility, since it makes much more sense to launch rockets from nearer the equator.
But why not invest in actual space vehicles first and get them launched from an appropriate existing facility? This just seems like a bit of a diversion from a country who's government hasn't even participated in any manned space program; I guess landowners prefer land to technology.
For what it's worth, Newquay gets my vote; at least you can enjoy the beach whilst waiting for a launch.
Not wanting to put a dampener on this, but shouldn't we have a space vehicle before we build a spaceport?
Come on, this is the mob whose upcoming new aircraft carriers are due to be finished and in service at least a couple of years before the aircraft that they're supposed to be carrying will become available.
So having the port before something to launch from it is almost par for the course...
Prestwick also has a beach as, I'm sure do most of the other candidates.
Not missing anything. Check out cargo cults. Build space port, space planes will come! Let Norman Foster design it and they won't be able to afford the landing fees though. Let Heathrow Epxress run the connection service and nobody but Branson will be able to afford to get to the space port.
I thought Guyana was a former British colony, rather like Belize?
And from Belize you might run into problems if a northern launch went wrong. Most of the Yucutan is barely inhabited low-canopy rain forest, but there are some good-sized cities like Merida that you wouldn't want to drop shrapnel on.
Like delivering the payloads and support equipment to the site.
Near term you're talking about sounding rockets, allowing UK universities to do what German and other Continental universities can do and give their students hands on experience of sending a paylod to space. Sounding rockets could let students do a launch as an end-of-course project.
The other near term option is for Virgin Galactics sub orbital space ride, as possibly XCOR's Lynx.
REL's Skylon is the big one of course.
"Near term you're talking about sounding rockets, allowing UK universities to do what German and other Continental universities can do"
My employer (a uk university) has been launching sounding rockets since 1964. It still happens but it isn't glamorous (or for the most part, terribly useful anymore), so noone pays attention.
North West. North West Wales, that is. Anyone who's been to Hollyhead knows that once there, all you want to do is leave. There's already the ferry port, I reckon the option of escaping into space would prove popular given that it's sunnier, warmer and less fucking miserable than Anglesey.
Also, you could drop the spent casings on Birmingham which is a bonus.
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