Spaceport Cornwall shortlisted as testing location

The European Space Agency (ESA) has shortlisted Spaceport Cornwall to deliver a 'landmark programme'

The European Space Agency (ESA) has shortlisted Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay as a suitable testing location for its "landmark programme".

Machrihanish in Scotland has also been shortlisted for the programme Invictus, which the ESA said would put the UK at the forefront of next-generation aerospace and space access.

It said Invictus was set to deliver a "hypersonic flight test capability unlike anything currently available in Europe" and enable technologies that make future reusable spaceplanes possible.

Head of engagement at Spaceport Cornwall, Ross Halbert told BBC Radio Cornwall "nearly everything that they would require is already here."

ESA says its Invictus programme is designed to accelerate "Europe's progress toward aircraft-like access to space" through de-risking innovations including advanced propulsion by testing them in "real-world conditions".

Mr Halbert said Spaceport Cornwall had the necessary capacity with a 2,744-meter-long runway, adding the "operational environment is here naturally" describing it as "far superior".

He said: "If they chose another site they would have to invest tens of millions of pounds getting it to the point we are already at in Cornwall...

"It's a globally unique environment."

The Labour MP for St Austell and Newquay, Noah Law said: "Invictus would be an immensely welcome, long-term partner... the kind that such a fine aerospace asset as Spaceport Cornwall... deserves."