Clara Clements, business development manager at MACC, said: “Like many rural communities we struggle with depopulation and this project would totally revitalise the community.”
The £7 million initiative is led by UK company, Frazer-Nash and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). The aim is to develop a reusable aircraft, which can fly at five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) for its first flight by early 2031. This would lay the groundwork for horizontal space launch, using its air-breathing hypersonic propulsion.
“We in Kintyre have a lot of work to do” said Ms Clements. “We have to ensure the community is properly informed about what a hypersonic testing project would mean for local residents, schools, businesses, farmers, and the local economy. It’s one of our jobs to ensure that consultation takes place.”
She talked of the inspiration of the recent Artemis II mission, which carried astronauts to the dark side of the moon.
“Observing the Artemis II mission was truly captivating,” she said. “Having observed rocket development projects at MACC, we’ve developed a deep respect for the immense complexity these endeavours entail. The mission’s vast scale where tens of thousands of components had to function flawlessly and materials withstand extreme stresses never ceases to amaze.”
Invictus, of course, is being designed to carry satellites, not people, into orbit. Horizontal launch also sometimes known as “air launch to orbit” is important for small satellite delivery, offering a flexible, lower-cost alternative to traditional vertical launches. It uses a conventional airplane to carry a rocket and its satellites to altitude.
The hypersonic testing project would be sited at MACC Business Park on the old airbase. Space ambitions aren’t new at the site. It is often listed as one of five future spaceports in development in Scotland, and is host, annually, to Mach X, the most ambitious rocketry competition in the UK, focused on relatively small payloads, and has already hosted other projects.
Machrahinish airbase runway (Image: Ian Arthur; Ian Arthur Commercial Photography)
It also has a history connected with space. Its 3,049 metre runway was identified as an emergency landing site for the shuttle in Europe. Shrouded in mystery, it was known as the UK’s ‘Area 51’ because it was believed to have been used by the US Airforce to test secret aircraft and investigate unidentified flying objects.
But so far, MACC spaceport achievements have been relatively small scale. While SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland has established itself as the UK’s first licensed vertical orbital launch site, Scotland’s four other potential space ports, including Machrihanish, have yet to make huge headway.
“We’ve had a bit of success though it has not gone boom,” said Ms Clements. “We’ve had quite a few companies come here, do different projects and think it’s great, and we’ve got two long-term tenants that are in the space scene. It has been a bit of a slow burn. We’re still plodding away at it.”
Even progress at SaxaVord Spaceport, owned by Danish billionaire Anders Povlsen, has been bumpy. This week it was announced that the company defaulted on a loan, which it described as a “technical matter”. Meanwhile Scottish rocket-manufacturer Orbex which had been planning to launch from the site has filed for administration.
Nevertheless, with three other rocket companies hoping to launch from SaxaVord in the coming months, it looks likely it could soon be host to the first successful vertical orbital launch in the UK.
Artist impression of the Invictus hypersonic space plane (Image: Fraser-Nash, @ESA)
Meanwhile, horizontal-launch capacity, of the type offered by Invictus, is also a key element that could make Scotland an important hub for European spaceflight, and MACC hopes that Invictus could be its big horizontal-launch opportunity.
Machrihanish’s history as an airfield dates back to the end of the first world war, when the RAF developed it. In the 1950s it hosted the US military and NATO, and as part of the Cold War, the site was expanded significantly, taking over large areas of farmland to facilitate the military, before it ended up back in MOD hands by 1995..
In 2008, MACC was set up aiming to make use of the 1000-acre site for the community. Ms Clements said: “The MOD were looking for a buyer for the full site and Don Mitchell and Ian Wardrop who managed the site in those times saw an opportunity for the community – that it would be possible to create a space where economic development could prosper. That was their inspiration.”
Machrahinish airbase runway (Image: Ian Arthur; Ian Arthur Commercial Photography)
Following a community ballot to show local support, MACC successfully purchased the site from the MOD for £1 on 11 May 2012.
The community company has made parts of the site available for commercial use with the aim of creating a sustainable future for the Campbeltown area. “Creating local jobs is the number one priority for the community group,” said Ms Clements. “We have had success in attracting small and medium businesses and a lot of our business and storage units are busy.
“We’re also very happy that a former Cold War aircraft hangar at Machrihanish is being transformed into what is believed to be the world’s first fully-automated bonded whisky warehouse. But Invictus would take us to the highest level.”
Invictus won’t come, however, without local impacts. The biggest potential issue for the community should it set up testing in Machrihanish is noise from the massively powerful test-engines.
Supporters say these elements can be well controlled with a reasonable limit on the number of noisy events and proper, early consultation with the community. Ms Clements added: “There are farmers and cattle in the area , for example, and it would be important to keep them fully engaged around any big events.”
Staff at Machrihanish Airbase Community Company visited by Brendan O’Hara MP. Left to Right : Dave Cook, Nicole Finn, Brendan O’hara, Elizabeth Eynon, Cara Clements, Cameron McNair, Gordon Stevenson (Image: Kevin McGlynn)
MACC was supported by Community Land Scotland which promotes community ownership of land and buildings. Sally Reynolds, Director of Communities and Operations at CLS says: “It is fantastic to see the Machrihanish Airbase Community Company doing such good work to help bring Invictus to Kintyre.
“The effort they are putting in shows how community experience, knowledge and ambition make a huge difference to revitalising their localities, and it would be a fantastic achievement if the Machrihanish community groups can help bring Invictus to Argyll.”
Final decisions on whether the UK Government will support Invictus and whether the multi-million project goes to Kintyre or Cornwall is expected over the next 12-18 months.
The advantages of Invictus, supporters say, is hundreds of high-quality well-paid jobs, a population boost, busier schools and shops and restaurants, and long-term commitment from a project based on highest-end technology.
The peninsula has seen the impact of other industry over the years. The area attracted wind turbine production, and Danish multinational Vestas and latterly CS Wind, employed up to 90 staff producing wind turbines.
“Although there is no wind turbine production at the moment, a lot of the guys that were at school with me got great training as engineers that gave them a life-time skill”, says Ms Clements. “Another benefit was that the roads were done up for the turbine producers and these good roads would work well for Invictus.”
Spaceport Cornwall is the UK’s first licensed horizontal launch spaceport, with a 2,744 metre runway. It has said it hopes that it can provide better connectivity for the space-race development, and emphasised its “world-class facilities, operational versatility, and strategic position within both civilian and military aviation infrastructure”.
But Kintyre, in turn, hopes its location near the end of a peninsula will be a positive attraction for a high energy experimental and technologically advanced project.
“A limited population is probably a great attraction for this development”, Ms Clements says. “We are checking out all funding channels that could help make the site more attractive for Invictus.
“As well as good roads, we have a superb deep water port at Campbeltown which would work well for the Invictus project.
“There is a lot of local support and a lot of community experience after 50 years of RAF and NATO in Machrihanish. We already have accommodation available on the MACC site for about 100.”