IRVINE’S MP hopes to boldly go where no Breast Cancer specialist has gone before by helping to bring commercial space flight to Ayrshire.

Central Ayrshire MP Dr Philippa Whitford led the debate for the SNP in Parliament as the Space Industry Bill was given its second reading on Monday.

The Bill, which passed its Second Reading without any division in the House of Commons, will create the regulatory framework to enable commercial spaceflight activities (both launch to orbit and sub orbit spaceflight) to be carried out from spaceports in the UK.

The UK space industry currently has a turnover in the region of £12 billion and the ambition is to see this grow to £40 billion by 2030.

With Prestwick Airport in pole position to capitalise on the opening up of horizontal launch commercial activities, Dr Whitford said the Bill is of great significance to Ayrshire.

Ahead of the debate Dr Whitford said: “I have been actively promoting Prestwick’s potential as a Spaceport since first being elected in 2015. During this time we have gone from being complete outsiders to one of the two main contenders.

“If Prestwick was to be granted a spaceport licence, it would see the aerospace industry in Ayrshire expand with new and exciting job opportunities as well as developing the existing supply chain; significantly benefiting local companies and the local economy.

“The Bill contains little that could be seen as contentious but there are issues to be considered as Space moves from being the domain of major nations and starts to involve commercial development.

During the debate Dr Whitford said the industry has grown massively in the last 10-15 years.

She said: “There is growing recognition that space is no longer something that the Americans and Russians do and nothing to do with anything else.

“Nor is it, as the minister said, about big expensive expeditions to the Moon or Mars much as they may go ahead, this is about the commercial potential of things like space tourism, micro-gravity research and eventually hyperbolic flight over distance.

“Obviously reaction engines and their air breathing rocket engine have been mentioned, their aspiration is the Skylon space plane, which could see us flying to Japan or Australia in literally a few hours.”

As the 'only place where Elvis put his feet down' in the UK, Dr Whitford added Ayrshire’s Prestwick Airport would become even more famous if it became the UK’s first spaceport.