Transport secretary Grant Shapps has hailed an announcement today as a “pivotal moment” in the mission to launch rockets from the UK.
The government laid out the Space Industry Regulations in Parliament today to allow activity to take place from a series of spaceports planned around the country. The new regulations mean satellites and rockets can launch from
UK soil for the first time.
Details set out in the Space Industry Regulations show that a number of these hubs could be operational as soon as next year across Scotland, as well as in Wales and Cornwall.
Shapps said today: “This is a pivotal moment for our spaceflight ambitions. Since the start of the spaceflight programme in 2017, we have been clear that we want to be the first country to launch into orbit from Europe.
MIAMI – After the events yesterday, when Ryanair (FR) flight FR4978 was forced to land in Minsk and the arrest of Roman Journalist Protasevich took place, and in response to the EASA recommendations, airBaltic rerouted several of their flights.
The initial press release this morning states that flight BT410 from Riga to Odessa and BT724 from Riga to Tbilisi have been rerouted to completely avoid Belarus airspace. This is one step further than the EASA recommendation to exercise caution when flying to or over Minsk, and more in line with the announcement by the UK Ministry of Transport.
A few hours later airBaltic announced that due to a lack of clarity from the regulating authorities, the airline would continue to reroute their flights on May 25. This reroute will affect flights from Riga to Athens and from Riga to Heraklion.
by Tyler Durden
Monday, May 24, 2021 - 04:50 PM
A growing number of European carriers, including all airlines based in the United Kingdom, are now
avoiding entry into Belarus airspace following Sunday s dramatic events involving the diversion of a Ryanair flight carrying Belarusian opposition journalist Roman Pratasevich.
The BBC is confirming that The UK government has told airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace after a Ryanair flight was diverted to Minsk and an opposition journalist arrested. The government said this is necessary to keep passengers safe .
JUST: UK directed all its airlines to avoid #Belarus’ airspace following Protasevich kidnapping. Follows Lithuania gov, SAS, Air Baltic, Wizz Air airlines.
Published Monday, May 24, 2021 12:48PM EDT (CNN) Some international airlines have started to avoid Belarus air space after a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was forced to land in the country, and a dissident journalist on board was arrested. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) said in a statement on Monday that it will reroute its twice weekly flights between Oslo and Kiev, the capitals of Norway and Ukraine, in line with instructions from the Swedish Transport Agency. Safety is always our highest priority. We follow the development closely and are in close contact with Scandinavian and European aviation authorities and follow their instructions, SAS added.
By Press Association 2021
Security use a sniffer dog to check the luggage of passengers on the Ryanair plane carrying opposition figure Roman Pratasevich
It is “very difficult to believe” the arrest of a prominent critic of the Belarus regime from a Ryanair flight could have taken place “without at least the acquiescence of the authorities in Moscow”, the Foreign Secretary has said.
Aircraft have been instructed to avoid Belarusian air space following the “state-sponsored hijack” of the flight on Sunday.
Dominic Raab said that although the situation was not yet clear, the relationship between Minsk and Moscow suggested Russian leaders may have been aware of the plans in advance.