Scottish community-owned airbase, Machrihanish Airbase in Campbeltown, is confident it is going to beat the other four shortlisted candidates to become the UK’s first spaceport in 2018.

The site, which has a history with space flight, is the only bidder to exceed the UK government’s minimum runway length of 3,000m, as well as being more than 1,000 acres in size and removed from densely populated areas.

Machrihanish was previously an emergency landing site for the shuttle in Europe and it is rumoured the site had been used in the past for testing top secret aircraft.

Chair of the Machrihanish Airbase Community Company, Tom Millar, also emphasised that the area has other tourism attributes to entertain space tourists, with luxury hotels, world class golf courses, sandy beaches and distilleries.

“A spaceport would provide a significant jobs boost and would revitalise local businesses,” says Millar. “It would also help drive tourism from all over the world, which would be a real boom for the whole of the UK.”

The other shortlisted sites are Glasgow Prestwick and Stornaway also in Scotland, Newquay in Cornwall and Llanbedr in Wales. Space tourists are anticipated to pay around £200,000 for a trip to see the stars.