http://www.space.com/26076-united-kingdom-commercial-spaceflight-spaceport-2018.html

UK Takes Aim at Commercial Spaceflight, Spaceport Possible by 2018
By Rob Coppinger, Space.com Contributor | June 01, 2014

The United Kingdom could have a spaceport by 2018.

Pending a regulatory report to be published this July and a technical feasibility study that is underway with the country's National Space Technology Programme (NSTP), it is possible that the country could host a spaceport within the next five years. A new National Space Flight Coordination Group, chaired by the U.K. Space Agency, will oversee these reports and the future work for this U.K. spaceport. Government officials hope this will be the start of commercial spaceflight for the country.

The group and the 2018 date were announced with the publication of the "Government Response to the U.K. Space Innovation and Growth Strategy 2014-2030," published last November by industry. This publication set out how the country's space sector could be worth 40 billion pounds ($67 billion) by 2030. The industry is worth 9 billion pounds ($15 billion) today. [Private Spaceflight: Latest Launches and News]

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These are not the first reports and studies the U.K. government has undertaken for a spaceport, but it is the first time the government has set a date for the creation of such a facility. In 2009, the British National Space Centre (BNSC), which preceded the U.K. Space Agency created in 2010, funded a study into spaceport candidate locations. That study concluded that Lossiemouth in Scotland would be the best site.

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Along with the industry strategy response, the government published its National Space Security Policy. This follows the U.K. Space Agency's Civil Space Strategy 2012-2016. The goals of the National Space Security Policy, which makes no reference to funding, are to make the United Kingdom more "more resilient to the risk of disruption to space services and capabilities," enhance the country's "national security interests" and promote a "more secure space environment." The strategy also aims to help industry and academia to "grasp commercial opportunities" in national space security.