Lossiemouth spaceport under threat?

July 2, 2009 · Filed Under Moray, Tourist 

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Lossiemouth spaceport under threat?

The potential development of a spaceport at Lossiemouth is an exciting prospect, and one that could only make the Scottish government treat the eastern Highlands with a bit more respect than it currently does (ie, on transport issues!).

However, Will Whitehorn, president of Virgin Galactic, has warned that the UK does not have the legislation in place to allow spaceflights – and that currently Sweden is the only country in Europe that comes close.

The key issue seems to be one of compensation in the event of a tragedy. At present, air travellers are given protection by at least two major European acts that forces airlines to compensate travellers and next of kin in the event of an accident.

It seems that Virgin Galactic need special exemption on the grounds that their aircraft are more experimental, and are therefore looking for an “informed consent” aspect built into UK law that will absolve them of this.

There are apparently other issues as well, but the UK government has already set up a panel to look at the UK’s space industry needs, not least in terms of legislation.

In which case, perhaps Whitehorn’s comments are more a “hurry up!”.

I could say the same to the Scottish government regarding transport upgrades required across the Moray Firth area. :)

Comments

One Response to “Lossiemouth spaceport under threat?”

  1. Space Cadet on July 2nd, 2009 6:35 pm

    was this project blue sky thinking or just pie in the sky ?

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