Spaceflight from Lossiemouth?

September 11, 2008 · Filed Under Nairn, Tourist, Transport 

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Virgin Spaceflight spacecraft: Eve

Here’s a seriously interesting suggestion from BBC News today – that RAF Lossiemouth is being considered as a potential launching platform for Virgin’s Eve space ship.

Sounds fantastical, and possibly is to some extent – but it’s a fun fantasy.

After all, how could I object to the idea of some of the first commercial space flights out of the UK to be launched from Moray?

Certainly it would help invigorate the place further, and let’s face it, the area around here is amazing, but suffers from underinvestment.

Which will undoubtedly kill the possibility of space flight from Lossiemouth any time soon.

According to the article:

Galactic’s president Will Whitehorn said RAF Lossiemouth – a military fast jet and rescue helicopter station – was still being considered as a launch site for future flights from the UK.

Mr Whitehorn, who visited Lossiemouth in 2006, said the station had the edge on other possible UK sites – including the station’s runway and personnel’s expertise in supersonic flying and specialist fuel.

He said: “I looked at the facilities there and, along with a couple of other UK sites, it could be ideal for a summer flying programme in the future due to its long runway and clear airspace in the Moray Firth.

“The view of Scotland would be pretty spectacular as well. Permissions would be needed but will not be sought until we are ready.

“There are other possible sites, but all have downsides and a few have upsides.”

Of course, the downside for Lossiemouth is poor transport links.

Sure, we have Inverness Airport not far away, plus the A96 as a transport link.

But Inverness Airport has no rail link – it’s still in the planning stages, and has been for years.

And the A96 is a tragic comedy of road planning – it is still not dualled, it bottlenecks in Nairn without the much needed bypass.

The result is that the A96 could not cope with a spike in visitors and would be dangerous to boot. As with many single carriage roads in the Highlands, fatalities are unfortunately common.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Executive continues to try and promote employment in the Highlands, without delivering on much needed transport links to support the population, development, and expansion in the Highlands.

So, while RAF Lossiemouth may be a potential contender for space launches, without a proper transportation architecture in place, it just won’t happen.

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