MACC Spaceport

Machrihanish Airbase Community (MACC) owned Discover Space UK has launched a bid to become the first spaceport in the country.

Campbeltown is one of the five locations shortlisted by the UK Government for the spaceport.

Spread across more than 1,000 acres, the Machrihanish site has runway spanning more than 3,000m, and is said to have technical advantage.

MACC chairman and Discover Space UK director Tom Millar said: "Machrihanish has a long-history with space flight, going back to the launch of Nasa’s Space Shuttle in 1981.

"The airbase itself was rumoured to have been used for testing top secret aircraft."

"Machrihanish was an emergency landing site for the shuttle in Europe, with our 3,049m runway long enough to welcome the shuttle and get it airborne again aboard a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft."

Known as the UK’s ‘Area 51’, the community-owned airbase was believed to have been used by the US Airforce to test secret aircraft and investigate unidentified flying objects (UFOs).

"Paul McCartney’s Mull of Kintyre estate is just 15 minutes from the base and the airbase itself was rumoured to have been used for testing top secret aircraft, so it’s only fitting that Machrihanish Airbase leads the way by becoming the UK’s first spaceport."

Other aerodromes selected for the project include Glasgow Prestwick and Stornoway in Scotland, Newquay in England, and Llanbedr in Wales.

The UK government looks to complete the spaceport, and commence commercial space missions from the selected site by 2018.

Image: An artistic view of the proposed spaceport at Machrihanish Airbase. Photo: courtesy of Machrihanish Airbase Community Company.