TECH & SCI
Britain looks to step up its own space program
2017-02-22 15:05:20 GMT+8
Editor
Gong Zhe
The United Kingdom is already a country of space exploration, but some of its lawmakers don't think it's enough.
They wrote a draft bill about space exploration, which suggests the country should set up its own rocket-launching facility. The text was published on the UK government's website on Monday.
It's not surprising that the UK wants to compete in the satellite-launch market, since many nations, and even private companies are already sharing the cake.
SpaceX, for example, is privately owned by US billionaire Elon Musk. The company has managed to build reusable rockets, which mean it can return to the ground after sending satellites into orbit.
But currently the UK has to rely on other countries, namely the US and Russia, to launch its satellites.
A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying the British communications satellite Inmarsat-5 F3 blasts off from a launch pad at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome on August 28, 2015. /CFP Photo
"We have never launched a spaceflight before from this country," said the country's aviation minister, Lord Tariq Ahmad, in Monday's statement posted on gov.uk website.
It's still unknown if private capital will participate in the development. But according to the bill, Britain's space ambitions could get started as early as 2020.
Only a few countries have the facilities to launch rockets into space, including China, the US, Russia and India.
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