Glasgow Prestwick Airport spaceport development project has taken a giant leap after securing a launch partner.

In partnership with South Ayrshire Council, the airport signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UK-based horizontal ‘air launch’ company Astraius.

The agreement will see Astraius deploy its horizontal launch technology as part of Prestwick’s spaceport development. This will allow the spaceport to launch rockets carrying small satellites from high altitude.

With the global satellite market booming, more operators are looking to place objects into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This will help them carry out activities including monitoring climate change, tracking deforestation and identifying illegal fishing or mining activities.

The deal will help leverage Scotland’s growing expertise in the space sector. Glasgow already manufactures more small satellites than anywhere in the world outside of California. In addition, Edinburgh has positioned itself as the space data capital of Europe, leading on the analysis of space derived data to bring a range of benefits to a variety of business sectors, the environment and wider society.

Furthermore, Prestwick has particularly strong transport links, a more than favourable climate for regular 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.

Scottish Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise Ivan McKee stated: “The memorandum of understanding with Astraius as a launch partner is great news for the Prestwick Spaceport and signifies a major step towards bringing horizontal launch capability to Scotland.

“Our ambition is for Scotland to be Europe’s leading space nation and to have a £4 billion share of the global space market by 2030, whilst developing launch capability – both vertical and horizontal – to serve small satellite producers.

“The announcement today brings us a step closer to achieving our ambition and proves once again the versatility and dynamism of the Scottish space sector.”

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South Ayrshire Council is a key partner in the development of Prestwick Spaceport, having secured £80m of investment for the existing Prestwick Aerospace hub – Scotland’s largest – as part of the wider £250m Ayrshire Growth Deal funding. The £80m funding will be invested in infrastructure and is expected to create up to 4,000 new high-quality jobs.

Commercial Director at Glasgow Prestwick Airport Zoe Kilpatrick said: “Glasgow Prestwick Airport is perfectly positioned to become a leading provider of space launch services after being at the forefront of aviation and aerospace for almost 100 years.

“In Astraius we have identified a partner with the vision, expertise, and proven technology to help fast-track our ambition to become Europe’s premier launch location, offering spaceflight as part of a proposition that stretches beyond launch, bringing a wide range of space related benefits to the region.

“This is both commercially exciting for the flagship element of Prestwick’s established aerospace hub and an important strategic step in developing launch capability for the UK. Partnering with the right service provider is critical for any launch location and Astraius is best suited to provide the required impetus and momentum to this exciting endeavour.”