Spaceport Proposed For Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland could be the ideal location for a spaceport from which satellites and intrepid travellers could be blasted into orbit.
According to the Institute of Directors (IoD), the north could provide a suitable location for such a terminal, which externally would look similar to an airport.
Such a move would help the space industry "really lift off", it said.
Any possible site would have to be isolated and thinly populated with an undisturbed high-altitude air corridor and room for a long runway.
The proposal has been set out in a new IoD report, 'Space - Britain's New Infrastructure Frontier', which catalogues the rapid growth of the UK's £8 billion space sector.
A spaceport would act as a "hub for space tourism, research and development", according to the report.
Northern Ireland was mooted as a potential site, though no specific locations have been singled out.
Other suggestions included an air and spaceport on a man-made island in the Severn Estuary in south-west England and the lengthening of the runway at a RAF base in Scotland.
The UK space industry, which is largely satellite-based, supports 85,000 jobs and has more than doubled in size in the past decade.
By 2020 it is expected to employ 100,000.
However, it could go much further, according to the IoD which said a "massive opportunity beckons for the UK, should we choose to understand and embrace it".
"A few regulatory and infrastructure developments, including licensing a spaceport, would help the space sector really lift off," the report read.
"Space tourism ... should not be forgotten. Space tourists are willing to pay $200,000 (£128,415) a ticket for a mere three hours in space.
"Crucially though, they will spend much longer within the vicinity of the spaceport and will no doubt have a lot of disposable income that would help the wider economy."
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