Intrepid travelers could fly to space from a UK space port as soon as 2020 under new laws. <\/p>\n
Commercial flights for people willing to go to infinity and beyond could be available in just three years. <\/p>\n
Space travel has long been a dream for people hoping to explore the area outside our planet. <\/p>\n
Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic and Dutch-founded Xcor are among those that could take passengers up to the final frontier when services go live. <\/p>\n
In Virgin Galactics plans, astronauts would cost $250,000 for the flight into the Earths atmosphere. <\/p>\n
SpaceX is also offering trips to the International Space Station after it made history in 2012 when it became the first commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to the space station. <\/p>\n
Sunday night its Falcon 9 rocket launched on a mission to resupply the space station. <\/p>\n
Under new powers unveiled this week, scientists will blast into space to conduct zero-gravity experiments in a bid to find cures for deadly bugs like MRSA and salmonella. <\/p>\n
The laws allowing commercial flights to take off from UK space ports by 2020 will also permit researchers to carry out tests on potential new antibiotics in orbit. <\/p>\n
The powers in the spaceflight bill will be revealed in Parliament this week. <\/p>\n
It means a rocket spaceflight could take off from a space port in Britain before a new runway is built at Heathrow. <\/p>\n
Science Minister Jo Johnson said the new powers would cement the UKs position as a world leader in an emerging market worth up to $26 billion (25 billion) over the next 20 years. <\/p>\n
Space ports could be set up and satellites launched from regions across the UK under the plans. <\/p>\n
Newquay in Cornwall; Llanbedr in Snowdonia; and three Scottish sites, Glasgow Prestwick, Campbeltown, and Stornaway in the Western Isles have all been shortlisted as potential space port sites. <\/p>\n
Because of Britains position far from the equator, its likely space planes would take off from a horizontal runway rather than a rocket launch pad. <\/p>\n
They will transport satellites up into orbit or take paying space tourists although its thought space tourism would only make up around 10 percent of the industry. <\/p>\n
NASA scientists have been carrying out scientific research in space for the last five years. <\/p>\n
This week US scientists sent the lethal MRSA bug up to the International Space Station for astronauts to study how the superbug becomes resistant to antibiotics. <\/p>\n
Aviation Minister Lord Ahmad said the ambition was to launch a space flight from the UK as soon as possible. <\/p>\n
He said: Our ambition is to allow for safe and competitive access to space from the UK, so we remain at the forefront of a new commercial space age. <\/p>\n
Johnson added: From the launch of Rosetta, the first spacecraft to orbit a comet, to Tim Peakes six months on the International Space Station, the UKs space sector has achieved phenomenal things in orbit and beyond. <\/p>\n
With this weeks spaceflight bill launch, we will cement the UKs position as a world leader in this emerging market, giving us an opportunity to build on existing strengths in research and innovation. <\/p>\n
This article originally appeared on The Sun. <\/p>\n
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Commercial space travel could be ready as early as 2020 - New York Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Intrepid travelers could fly to space from a UK space port as soon as 2020 under new laws. Commercial flights for people willing to go to infinity and beyond could be available in just three years Continue reading