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Protesters call on Scottish Government to withdraw spaceport support

By Ross Hunter@_Ross_Hunter, Multimedia Journalist, 4 Oct 23 #nuclear #NoNukes #anti-nuclear #nuclear-free

CAMPAIGNERS are calling on the Scottish Government to withdraw support for new spaceports in Scotland.

Protesters from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and Drone Wars UK appeared outside Holyrood on Tuesday to highlight concerns about the environmental impact of the facilities and their role in bolstering militarism.

There are currently plans for at least five new spaceports in Scotland.

However, campaigners drew particular attention to three: the Saxa Vord spaceport in Unst, Shetland; the Orbex spaceport on the A’Mhoine peninsula in Sutherland; and a spaceport in North Uist being proposed by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar in conjunction with private military contractor QinetiQ.

Lynn Jamieson, the chair of the Scottish CND, said all the projects posed a threat to biodiversity.

She told The National: “The places where these rockets are set to be launched are very fragile ecosystems………………………..

“It is still carbon-based and putting it into the upper atmosphere will contribute to climate change, too.

“Taken over by militarism”

The Scottish Government has previously said that spaceports represent a “great opportunity”.

Indeed, ministers say that the country is well-placed to become “a leading European space nation”.

But Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman said that the industry in Scotland must not be permitted to prop up an increasingly militarised view of space……………………………………

A code of space ethics 

Last year, the UK Government published its Defence Space Strategy and described space as the fifth operational domain of the military alongside cyber, maritime, air and land.

The report vowed to increase military spending – which has already increased by more than £8 billion since 2020 – in order to “protect and defend our national interests in and through space”.

The UK Space Agency has also said that spaceport facilities are vital for the launch of satellites to collect data on climate change.

But Peter Burt from the campaign group Drone Wars UK told The National that a code of space ethics must be drawn up before the spaceports begin accepting contracts from the Ministry of Defence.

“The fact is that a lot of spaceport investment is military investment,” he said.

“We already know we are in real trouble with climate change; we don’t need more data to tell us that – we need action to stop it.

“The UK Space Agency, instead of greenwashing its projects, needs to come up with a code of space ethics and use that to govern the kinds of projects it invests in.”

The campaigners have appealed to the Scottish Parliament’s cross-party group on nuclear disarmament to support their calls for the Scottish Government to oppose rather than support spaceports……………………………….  https://www.thenational.scot/news/23831188.protesters-call-scottish-government-withdraw-spaceport-support/

October 5, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, UK