SCIENTISTS will be able to fly to the edge of space from Scotland to conduct vital medical experiments under new powers unveiled this week.
Laws paving the way for Scottish space ports will allow experiments to be conducted in zero gravity to develop medicines.
The powers will see space ports set up and satellites launched from sites across the UK.
The Spaceflight Bill will also allow scientists to fly to the edge of space and conduct experiments in zero gravity, which could help develop vaccines and antibiotics, the Department for Transport said.
Science minister Jo Johnson said the bill would “cement the UK’s position as a world leader in this emerging market”.
A spokesman for the Whitehall department said the first commercial flight from a UK space port could lift off by 2020.
In 2009, Virgin Galactic named Machrihanish Airport in Argyll as one of its top three preferred sites for a space port.
Prestwick and Stornoway are on the UK Government’s shortlist of potential sites.
The powers will allow the launch of satellites from the UK for the first time, horizontal flights to the edge of space for scientific experiments and the establishment and operation of space ports in regions across the UK.
Next steps involve the Government encouraging business and industry to come forward with specific proposals for space launches and the introduction of a bill later this year, after which specific rules and regulations will developed for operators – such as safety and insurance measures.
In addition, the Government is inviting commercial space businesses to bid for funding to help create a space-launch market in the UK. The sector is vital to the future of the UK economy as it creates high-value jobs and generates wealth across the country.
It is believed regions will benefit from direct access to space as the building of local space ports will lead to more demand in hospitality and tourism services, creating jobs and opportunities.
The UK construction, engineering and service sector will benefit too from supply chains and supporting services. Together the new powers and funding will potentially allow a commercial spaceflight from a UK spaceport by 2020.
Space satellites are vital for our daily lives – once launched they can help provide broadband to rural communities, monitor weather systems as they move around the earth, and even help rural health workers who use satellite communications to diagnose and assist patients situated far from specialist health services.
The move has the potential to take UK scientists up to space so they can research and develop vaccines and antibiotics, which grow differently where there is no gravity.
The flights could also carry out hundreds of vital scientific experiments on medical issues such as ageing and the human body.
Aviation minister Lord Ahmad said: “The UK’s space sector is the future of the British economy. Today over 90 per cent of data used in every forecast comes from a satellite. Our ambition is to allow for safe and competitive access to space from the UK so we remain at the forefront of a new commercial space age, for the next 40 years.”
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