A peninsula on Scotland's north coast has been chosen as the location for the UK's first spaceport.
Vertical rocket and satellite launches are planned from the A'Mhoine peninsula in Sutherland with the UK Space Agency saying it would pave the way for space flights.
The agency said the site was chosen as it is the best place in the UK to reach highly sought-after satellite orbits with vertically launched rockets.
The UK government will provide STG2.5 million ($A4.5 million) to develop the spaceport which is hoped will be operational by the early 2020s.
Sutherland is the first vertical launch site to be awarded grant money, ahead of other vertical sites at Unst, Shetland, and North Uist in the Western Isles.
A STG2 million development fund was also announced for horizontal launch spaceports across the UK at sites such as Prestwick in Ayrshire, Cornwall's Newquay, Campbeltown in Argyll and Bute and Llanbedr, Gwynedd, Wales, subject to a successful business case.
The space agency said the spaceflight market is potentially worth STG3.8 billion to the UK economy over the next decade.
Agency chief executive Graham Turnock said the spaceport grant would "help kick-start an exciting new era for the UK space industry".
Business Secretary Greg Clark said: "As a nation of innovators and entrepreneurs, we want Britain to be the first place in mainland Europe to launch satellites as part of our Industrial Strategy.
The consortium behind the Sutherland spaceport proposal includes US aerospace firm Lockheed Martin.
