4. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to assist sites in Scotland that are preparing to apply for licences to operate as spaceports. (S5O-00452)

We remain focused on ensuring that a spaceport is based in Scotland, and the Scottish Government and its agencies will provide advice and support to any Scottish airfield that wishes to pursue the spaceport opportunity.

The modern transport bill, which will include the spaceport legislation and the licensing process, is not due at Westminster until early 2017 and it will then take a year to become law, so the Civil Aviation Authority is not expecting to issue the licensing process until 2018. We await clarification from the United Kingdom Government regarding the infrastructure requirements that will be involved in a site becoming a spaceport. That clarity is necessary to allow sites to develop viable business models for possible spaceflight operations. The Scottish Government and its agencies will continue to support Scottish sites in any way that they can at the appropriate time. Currently, each site has the ability to have direct contact with the CAA for updates and inquiries on the process.

The Cabinet secretary will be well aware that the UK space sector is one of Britain’s fastest-growing and most innovative industries. Discover Space UK is bidding to license Machrihanish as a horizontal-launch spaceport facility, which would make it the UK’s first commercial spaceport. Machrihanish already has a fully functioning 3,000m runway that was an alternative landing site for the US space shuttles. Will the cabinet secretary reconsider enterprise area status for Machrihanish, which outscored two existing enterprise areas in the 2011 appraisal process?

As I said in my initial response, it is up to each airfield to say whether it wants to participate in the bid and to put in place the things that it thinks would advantage its application. However, we must wait until it is obvious from the UK Government’s modern transport bill what the infrastructure requirements and business models will be for spaceport bids. We need clarity on that before places that want to apply can put together infrastructure and other initiatives to support their bid. We must wait for that clarification before we can take forward commitments in relation to any bid that arises.

Following the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Glasgow Prestwick airport and Houston spaceport on Tuesday, does the Cabinet secretary agree that, provided that Prestwick airport can meet the licensing obligations, it is now the preferred site for horizontal take-off space launches in Scotland and that the Prestwick maintenance, repair and overhaul infrastructure could be used to support vertical take-off space launches at other Scottish sites?

What I said in relation to the previous question applies to any sites, but I recognise some of the points that have been made by John Scott in relation to the work that Prestwick airport has undertaken, and I recognise—as I have mentioned—the advantages of Machrihanish in terms of its runway and so on. Prestwick airport is putting in place an awful lot of infrastructure and has, of course, some benefits already. However, as John Scott well knows, Prestwick would require further infrastructure development if it were to bid.

Again, I say that both Prestwick and Machrihanish will want to see the modern transport bill progress through the UK Parliament so that they know exactly what the infrastructure requirements will be and what the best possible business model will be, should they decide to bid.

I hear what the Cabinet secretary says, but as John Scott pointed out, Glasgow Prestwick airport and Houston Spaceport have formed an exciting new partnership that met just two days ago. Prestwick already has 3,000 aerospace engineers working there. Will the Scottish Government now finally commit itself to the bid from Prestwick— which is an airport and not, like Machrihanish, an airfield—in order to boost Scotland’s chances of securing the UK’s and Europe’s first operational spaceport?

I do not want to deviate from the responses that I gave to the previous two questions on the matter. It also remains the case—this has been mooted in the past— that the airfields, or airports, might wish to work together on a bid. However, the point still applies that for any bid to be given full form—I recognise the work that has been undertaken at Prestwick and the aspirations at Machrihanish—those who are bidding require knowledge of what will be needed in terms of infrastructure. We do not yet know that, definitively. Once we know what the infrastructure requirements are, those who are keen to bid will know how to put together their business plans. We have to await that process but, at the same time, encourage those who want to participate.