Whisper it, but Scotland is on the verge of becoming a space superpower
‘Y esterday afternoon, shattering the moorland peace of Inverard, in North Argyll, powered jets burst into action. For the second time in two months a space ship took off, its fiery trail vanishing wisp-like into the blue autumn sky.”
Thus Angus MacVicar began his novel Return to the Lost Planet, with words that have stayed with me since its publication in 1954 and its later serialisation by the BBC. Scotland was here depicted as an international centre of rocketry, with its glens and hills regularly reverberating to the sound of missions blasting their way to other worlds, in this case “the lost planet” of Hesikos.
This fictional vision of my home country – as a space power – has never left me and, I am happy to report, after many decades, my hopes for Scottish rocketry may, at last, become reality. According to current schedules, Scotland will indeed ring to the sound of rockets regularly demolishing its moorland peace as probes are blasted into orbit round the Earth. Indeed, two rival centres, one in Sutherland, the other in Shetland, are already vying to become the first spaceport in Britain – indeed in Europe – next year. Other sites – in the Western Isles; at Machrihanish, near Campbeltown, in Argyll; and at Prestwick, near Glasgow – are also being considered as launch centres.
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This rocket renaissance will not be totally restricted to Scotland, of course. Cornwall and Wales have also outlined plans for their own spaceports. The crucial point is that Britain seems on course to achieve its goal of becoming a satellite launch power in its own right, after decades of
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