Representatives from Prestwick Spaceport are set to meet with stakeholders from across the global space industry, commerce, academia and government at this week’s Farnborough International Airshow, to accelerate plans to become Europe’s premier space launch location.

Prestwick Spaceport will have a major presence alongside partners with Space Scotland as part of a dedicated Space Zone at the world’s biggest airshow at Farnborough, from today until July 22.

The spaceport, which this week welcomed senior representatives from Houston Spaceport and Rice University in the US, has secured more funding than any other UK spaceport development with a long-established aerospace cluster at the forefront of technology and innovation, featuring companies such as BAE Systems, Collins Aerospace, GE Caledonian and Spirit AeroSystems.

The project is currently focused on leveraging its transport links and proximity to key satellite manufacturers in Glasgow in order to create more than 4,000 new jobs in Ayrshire.

In September 2021, Prestwick Spaceport signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) deal to accelerate Scotland’s space industry ambitions in partnership with Astraius, the leading UK-based, commercially operated horizontal ‘air launch’ company.

Prestwick and Astraius are both attending Farnborough International Airshow and are expected to further develop plans in response to the growing demand for satellite launch services for the UK and around the globe.

Prestwick Spaceport’s upcoming milestones include finalising plans for its second public consultation, working with UK regulators on its launch licence application, attracting inward investment, developing supply chain opportunities and delivering local educational outreach initiatives.

A key ambition for Prestwick Spaceport is to promote the importance of inspiring the next generation and recently outlined its plans to encourage young people to consider a career in Scotland’s end-to-end space sector, which already employs more people per capita than anywhere else in the UK, through the creation of an outreach campaign entitled A New Hope.

Matthew Archer, Director of Commercial Spaceflight for the UK Space Agency said: “Glasgow produces more satellites than anywhere else in the UK and Prestwick Spaceport is at the centre of a growing aerospace cluster which has the potential to support thousands of high-quality jobs.

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“To keep growing the UK space sector, we need to catalyse investment and inspire the next generation to reach for the stars, and it’s great to see the progress being made by the team at Prestwick in these areas. I look forward to seeing them at Farnborough and continuing our work together.”

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