Slated As Britain's First Manned Space Vehicle

Starchaser last week unveiled the first man-rated capsule in Hyde Cheshire.

It gave members of the public a chance to inspect the capsule airframe and cockpit and meet members of the team who built it.

Snugly Built For One

The capsule weighs 200 kg and measuring 3 metres in length, the single seater Nova II capsule is being readied for shipment to the USA where it is to be fitted with a custom parachute system. The manned capsule will then be dropped from a C-123K transport aircraft at an altitude of 14,000 feet over the Red Lake Drop Zone Arizona, in order to practice landing the reusable craft.

Once proven, the capsule will be attached to the Starchaser Nova rocket, which was first flown from Morecambe Bay in November 2001.

Further unmanned tests will be followed by a manned launch to an altitude of at least 30,000 feet.

Nova II will become Britain's first manned rocket capsule and will test a variety of systems for use in Project Thunderbird. 

This project is Starchaser Industries entry into the US $10 million X-Prize which is on offer to the first non-governmental organisation capable of launching three people into space.

FMI: www.starchaser.co.uk