Meeting of the Parliament 26 October 2016
I, too, have been very interested in the debate, and I thank David Stewart for securing it. It is quite obvious that proponents in the chamber for Campbeltown and Prestwick have a genuine degree of passion and interest in the subject. Mr Stewart also mentioned Stornoway, which I will mention later on. I am impressed by the level of detail displayed by Mr Stewart, Kenneth Gibson, John Scott, John Finnie, Neil Bibby, Donald Cameron and Edward Mountain, and I commend all members for the detailed research that they have carried out into this subject.
Scotland has a small but dynamic and growing space sector that is focused on a number of high-tech, high-skill and research and development-intensive areas. According to the latest available figures, the space industry in Scotland has a turnover of around £134 million, and it is spearheaded by a cluster of 128 companies, some of which have been mentioned by Kenneth Gibson and others. They are at the cutting edge of their specialisms and are backed by strong relationships with researchers in Scottish universities and research pools.
The Scottish space sector has a very strong international standing in small satellite systems and space science research as well as related areas such as sensor systems and big data.
The aspiration is for Scotland to secure 10 per cent of the UK market by 2030, which itself is potentially worth £4 billion. John Finnie cited the economic potential at the UK level and at the Scotland level. The impact that that could have on the local economy at either Campbeltown or Prestwick is clear and is probably what is fuelling the significant interest and passion of champions of those locations.
A spaceport would act as a major catalyst for the further development of the developing space sector in Scotland and the UK. It would attract investors to Scotland to play their part in the space industry supply chain; it would act as a hub for technology providers and professional services; it would attract space tourists; and it would free up the global bottleneck at the point of small satellite launch to allow growth in the new space market.
The spaceport opportunity is not about space flight in isolation; it is about much more than launching a satellite or transporting a space tourist. The wider benefits of being a licensed spaceport are extensive and could impact on manufacturing industries, research and development, academia and tourism, to name but a few. Speaking of tourism, I note that the spaceport is not just about taking people into space; as a number of members have mentioned, it is about attracting visitors to visitor centres and to see an operational spaceport with live launches. The potential is vast in that respect.
As David Stewart and Edward Mountain said, there has been a significant change to the selection process for a UK spaceport. It was announced that the UK Government is moving to a legislative framework approach with the modern transport bill. That will be a departure from the previous bidding process to determine who would host the United Kingdom’s only spaceport. A legislative framework such as the one that is being proposed brings with it a number of benefits, some of which should help to address the concerns that members have expressed today about picking winners. There will no longer necessarily be one winner; instead, space operations will be possible from multiple sites across the country.