Starchaser Industries

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Starchaser Industries is a UK company led by Steve Bennett ( CEO ). It is working on the development of a rocket for the transport of commercial payloads into space. Starchaser was founded by Bennett in 1992 and is currently headquartered in Manchester, United Kingdom.

The Starchaser team was also a participant in the Ansari X-Prize . It took part in the competition with the Starchaser rocket .

The largest rocket launched by the company to date was the 11-meter-high "Nova", which in November 2001 reached an altitude of 1,600 meters. Nova was launched from Morecambe Bay . It was the largest privately-built rocket that has ever flown in Europe. The company's other missiles were called Discovery, Tempest, and Sharp.

On September 28, 2006, the company presented its Skybolt rocket at the University of Salford in Manchester. It is scheduled to start from the newly emerging Spaceport America airport. The end of 2007 was named as the date. A first manned flight is scheduled to take place in 2009, when a capsule would be installed at the tip of the rocket that can take three passengers. First of all, scientific payloads are to be transported into space. The project is scheduled to run for ten years, with an investment of 100 million US dollars. The reusable rocket - a special feature for a vehicle powered by liquid fuel - can reach a height of 130 kilometers.

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