Space pioneer Steve Bennett will be stepping into an airtight oxygen tank this week in a bid to test life support systems for his new three-man rocket capsule.

He told the Advertiser that over the next few months the Starchaser crew will carry out a series of experiments where team members will be placed inside the giant fibre glass tank in order to monitor their oxygen intake and the amount of carbon dioxide released.

“It’s a very exciting time for us, the whole project is starting to come together now. It has been difficult in the past because there are so many aspects to get your head round, but I’m quite looking forward to seeing the results we get from this,” he said.

Steve, who comes from Dukinfield, said he aims to stay inside the airtight container for two hours so that technicians can gauge the levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide and the temperature needed during his journey into space.

“The entire flight is about 23-and-a-half minutes so what we are going to do is keep things stable for that long, but ideally we want to be able to use this system for two hours to keep people alive.

“Obviously there are risks involved but we try to keep them to a minimum,” Steve,  39, said.

He added that once they complete their 80-foot-long three-man rocket they aim to be the first non-government funded company to fly three people to an altitude of 100km and claim the $10m X-prize.

And Starchaser fans can meet Steve and his team this Saturday when they hold an open day from 10am to 6pm at their base in Hyde.

For more details on Starchaser, call 882 9922 or log on to www.starchaser.co.uk

A TRIP to the stars is up for grabs as Tameside’s space race hots up for its next mission.

Starchaser Industries has launched an exciting new competition giving the winner a chance to join them on their mission into space.

Project leader Steve Bennett says the competition is a new fund raising scheme for Starchaser, which is aiming to launch the first non-government funded three man rocket into space.

And because the Hyde firm relies heavily on sponsorship and donations, it is hoping the competition will give it a much-needed financial boost.

“The winner will join an experienced pilot and co-pilot aboard the Starchaser Rocket, travelling to an altitude of around 100km and experiencing a view that is truly is out of this world,” Steve said.

He added that every entry into the competition - either online or over the phone - gives Starchaser an extra donation to go towards helping achieve the ultimate goal.

“All the money from the competition goes towards the rocket programme and we are hoping that as many people as possible will enter as it is not only a great prize, worth £500,000, but a chance to help out Starchaser,” he said.

Full training will be given to the prizewinner prior to flight take-off, which will include centrifugal training, skydive training and high altitude decompression.

To enter the competition log onto www.starchaser.co.uk for more details.

THINGS are hotting up in the Tameside space camp as rocket man Steve Bennett prepares for the next stage of his exciting race to the stars.

Pioneering space engineer Steve will be jetting off to America on 10 July as he prepares to take his Nova II rocket capsule on its first ever test flight.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for quite some time. We have been waiting for this from about May and it’s taken three months to get it here but now it’s finally going to happen,” he said.

Steve, who comes from Dukinfield, told the Advertiser that he will first fly to Florida to oversee the final stages of the 1,000 square foot parachute for the Nova II, before travelling to Arizona for the start of the trials on 21 July.

“We’re doing a minimum of three drops and the parachute people want to put their test pilots in the first two but I’m hoping to do the third one,” he said.

He said once the capsule is dropped from the transport aircraft at 14,000 feet, the pilot will then guide the 200kg capsule to the ground – similar to a glider plane.

But Steve said the trip will not be all work-orientated as he hopes to take in some of the local sites with his wife Adrienne and their kids Max and Tabitha.

He added that should the trials go well, he aims to launch himself, the Nova pod and the Nova rocket, 30,000 feet into space by 2004, which will then pave the way for their three-man launch and the $10m X-prize for the first private manned rocket flight.

Rocketman Steve inspires song - February 27, 2003

FORGET Lennon, Hendrix and Bowie – Denton duo Bynatone have shunned the rock and roll hall of fame in favour of space man Steve Bennett.

Electro pop pairing Rachel Elwell and Alan Lewinsky were so impressed with the Dukinfield scientist’s bid to launch into space they have written a song about him.

Starchaser, named after Steve’s rocket project, is a space-sounding track made using an Omega computer and a theremin.

It’s the band’s debut single and came out on the Arden City College-sponsored record label Raw Fish.

Alan, aged 26, said: “I read about him in the Advertiser a couple of years ago and was just amazed by what he’s doing.

“I admire his enthusiasm. He will either look like an absolute fool or he will be a hero and will be on the front cover of every newspaper.

“He is a man following his dreams and that’s very inspiring. I would love to enter the competition on his website to win a place on the launch, but Rachel won’t let me because she doesn’t think I will come back down in one piece.”

Bynatone got together in May last year and have played 15 gigs in Manchester. They have even been asked to sign a copy of Starchaser for one of their fans. But their hero has yet to hear the track.

Steve said: “I’m quite keen to hear this song. It’s nice to be an inspiration, quite flattering, but I will have to wait until I hear it before I give an opinion. I would encourage everyone to live their dream. ”

Schoolboy dream edges closer - September 26, 2002

ROCKET pioneer Steve Bennett is being measured up for his space suit as his schoolboy dreams of blasting into space are one giant leap closer to becoming reality.

Next week the rocket man will test the groundbreaking engine that will propel his one-man spacecraft into the atmosphere.

And if successful, it’s off to Russia to be kitted out in his space gear and onto Australia early next year for his first launch into the stratosphere.

Steve said: "We are getting closer all the time, we have built a single man capsule for the Nova rocket with all whistles and bells.

"If everything goes to plan we hope to have a full dress rehearsal in Australia where we launch the rocket unmanned and then manned.

"I’ve got lots of training lined up at the Gagarin Space Centre in Russia to prepare me for zero gravity."

Steve, who dreamed of travelling in space while building model rockets in his bedroom aged 13, now runs Starchaser Industries with 18 full-time workers.

His one-man launch next year will be a warm-up for the XPRIZE competition, which offers a £6.25m prize for the first non-governmental organisation to send a crew of three 63 miles into the atmosphere.

The engine testing will iron out any flaws in the revolutionary design which cuts out if any thing goes wrong, stopping the rocket exploding.

Five small scale engines will be fired up at Buxton Heath and Safety Laboratory. Steve, from Dukinfield, will then build the final 15 tonne engine for the one-man rocket that will power his blast off into space with a 4,000 mile thrust.

He added: "The engine we have developed is much safer than other designs because it cuts out if anything goes wrong, which means it won’t explode.

"If there are any problems near the ground you can parachute free, but once you’re travelling at 4,000 mile thrust there’s not much you can do if it goes wrong."

Rocketman to sue over web jibes - August 29, 2002

ROCKETMAN Steve Bennett is suing the BBC after they branded his plans to launch into space ‘suicidal’ and ridiculed the space vessel.

In an article published on BBC News Online the rocket developed by Starchaser Industries – a small aerospace firm set up by Steve – is labelled a ‘converted cement mixer with sheets of hardboard and a few computer joysticks’.

It also claims Steve has been banned from launching rockets on military ranges. The article was posted in June last year and is still accessible, at the time of writing.

It has jeopardised crucial sponsorship deals and legal action is being taken with a claim for £50,000 damages.

Dukinfield man Steve was furious that 10 years’ of hard work was being undermined.

He said: "They have published something on the website that was wholly untrue. It was a hatchet job.

"They set out to make mischief. I would have been happy if they had said ‘fair’s fair, we’ll take it off’ but they didn’t.

"We won a sponsorship deal with one company three days before the article was posted and they rang us and said they probably would have pulled out if they had seen it before. We believe it has affected others.

"They have ridiculed everything we are doing and I’m not going to stand for that. We have worked very, very hard to get where we are. This is not some Mickey Mouse project, it is legitimate company with people working on it full-time. It ruins our credibility.

"All they had to do was take the article off, but they haven’t. It has become very costly because it’s taking up so much of my time. They have left me no alternative."

Steve, director of the Space Technology Laboratory at Salford University, set up Starchaser in 1992 as an experimental rocket test programme. It later became Starchaser Industries, a private company, and he hopes they can scoop the American XPRIZE where £6.25m is up for grabs.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said: "We are defending the story, but it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time."

Award on home soil - January 24, 2002

HE may be known nationwide as ‘the rocket man’, but nobody’s followed Steve Bennett’s success story more than those closest to home.

To congratulate his achievements so far, the dad-of-two was presented with a public service award by the people of his home town – Dukinfield.

Steve has high hopes of winning the XPRIZE by being the first independent rocket maker to launch three people 62 miles into the atmosphere.

In November he launched NOVA – his 14^th and biggest rocket to date – above Morecamebe Bay. NOVA is capable of carrying one person 62 miles into space and Steve is planning one more unmanned flight before stepping into the rocket himself for a 10,000ft trip this spring.

The space fanatic reckons he’s in with the best chance of winning the prize and is hoping to do so with Thunderbird – an advanced version of NOVA – by the end of 2003.

The award was presented to Steve at Dukinfield’s district assembly by chairman Cllr Brian Wild who praised his success.

"Steve told me in 1996 that he’d gone full-time to promote his rocket," Cllr Wild said. "It’s a great achievement what he’s doing. Every time Steve’s on TV he puts Dukinfield on the map and it’s a great pleasure to give him this award."

Steve, 37, said: "It really is an honour and a privilege to receive this award. It was completely unexpected. It’s nice to be recognised, I’ve put a lot of work into this and it’s started to pay off."

He added: "We’ve now got a factory in Hyde which is employing local people and we’re putting something back into the community.

"We really do want to put Dukinfield back on the map."

Starchaser Steve off into history - November 29, 2001

AS the world’s first private spaceship soared above the Morecambe skyline, its creator once again upped the ante of the space race.

NOVA is Steve Bennett’s latest rocket – five times bigger and five times more powerful than Starchaser Discovery, which he launched successfully last July.

Dukinfield’s very own rocket man used the same launch pad – Carmel Wharf in Flookburgh, Morecambe – but this time the stakes were much higher.

The 37ft tall NOVA RLV reusable launch vehicle was billed as the ‘last piece of the puzzle’ before Steve attempts his goal of winning the XPRIZE.

It’s Steve’s 14^th and biggest rocket to date and is capable of carrying one person 62 miles into space. He’s planning one more unmanned flight before stepping into the rocket himself for a 10,000ft trip next spring.

As the crowds of press and spectators waited patiently for the 10-second countdown, we were warned it was an experiment and told to stay behind the spectators’ rope. Many wondered this would be the launch to put a stop to Steve’s ambitious plans.

But as we saw the £100,000 spaceship blast off in a cloud of black smoke, reaching a speed of 0-500mph in under six seconds, we soon realised the former laboratory technician’s dream was not so out of this world.

The rocket split in two as planned and the capsule – the top bit where Steve will be when he attempts his manned flight – was brought down safely by parachute.

The booster – the biggest part of the rocket – had three parachutes, but two became tangled, leaving only one bringing it down at 35mph, more than double the planned speed. Apart from two fins breaking off during heavy landing, the whole rocket can still be reused.

Steve, aged 37, said NOVA was ‘substantially bigger’ than anything he’d done before. He said it was capable of going all the way into space, but explained why they kept it to an altitude of less than 6,000ft.

"If you’re going to build a boat to sale around the world, you sale it round the marina first to check what it’s capable of," he said. "We need this test flight to see if it meets its objectives."

Checking the new mobile launch tower, the capsule parachute descent, the booster system and onboard computers were just a few of the flight objectives.

NOVA was Steve’s fifth launch at Morecambe Bay and possibly his last in the UK. "After this I want to launch it to higher altitudes, but we’re restricted with how high we can go with this in the UK," he said.

"The higher you go the bigger launch area you need."

Steve runs his own company from Salford University and earlier this year opened a new Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in Hyde.

He’ll soon be opening another office in America – Cape Canaveral was his obvious choice.

He now has 12 permanent staff and 25 part-time volunteers.

And with sponsorship from the likes of Microsoft and the Discovery Channel, he’s certainly not short of investment.

The space fanatic reckons he has the best chance of winning the XPRIZE and is hoping to do so with Thunderbird – an advanced and 30 per cent bigger version of NOVA – by the end of 2003.

But the prize is just part of his ultimate aim to ‘open up the space frontier’.

He reckons regular passenger flights aboard Thunderbird-style spaceships could start as early as 2006.

"Space tourism will be worth $10bn by 2010 and we’ve got to make sure we have a piece of that pie," he said.

"I’ve always dreamed of flying into space – flying aboard a rocket, now we’ve got one. There are a lot of doubters out there and we’ve just proved them wrong. We have just physically demonstrated in the most dramatic way possible that we have what it takes to deliver.

"There are a lot of people out there talking about it, but we’re out here walking the walk and making it happen."

TAMESIDE’S rocket man is determined to have the last laugh over those who scoff at his ambitious plans.

Those laughs may not be far off as organisers of the XPRIZE competition are confident they’ll soon be writing a cheque.

Steve Bennett is one of 22 competitors fighting for the XPRIZE and he’s convinced he’ll be the high-flyer.

In June this year he unveiled NOVA – his 14^th and biggest rocket to date – which will be heading for the stars in November.

The 10,000ft launch – which he hopes will be above Morecambe Bay, if the foot-and-mouth restrictions aren’t still in place – will be his last in the UK. After that Steve will be taking his attempts abroad.

He plans to have another unmanned launch before stepping into the rocket himself for his first manned flight in Spring next year.

By 2003 Steve says he’ll be ready to go for the big one – and will blast off for the XPRIZE with Thunderbird.

Speaking from Florida, where he’s practising more parachute jumps in case he has to abandon the rocket, Steve said: "By spring next year I’ll have done 100 jumps or more.

"I’ll have my private pilot’s licence and will have taken flying lessons. All these little things help. It’s not like flying a plane, but the more time I spend flying different things the more experienced I’ll be and the more chance I’ll have to pull this mission off."

On last week’s BBC2 Close Up North television programme, Steve was billed as the closest competitor to wining the XPRIZE. It said the nearest to him was Canadian Brian Feeney who had only completed a model of his rocket.

"He’s not go the money, the team or the resources to progress any further," said Steve, 37. "He’s probably where we were about four years ago.

"I don’t want to burst his bubble and I would help him providing I don’t shoot myself in the foot. I want to see the space frontier open up so that people can go to space on holidays and it’s only going to happen if people like us make it happen.

"There’s a lot of money to be made from space tourism but I’m going to make sure we get the biggest slice of the pie."

THE unveiling of NOVA takes rocket man Steve Bennett one step closer to a space world first.

He is aiming to win the XPRIZE competition and says his company Starchaser Industries Ltd is on schedule to compete for the prize by 2003 with Thunderbird – an advanced version of NOVA.

Two tickets have already been sold for Thunderbird to an anonymous couple for a mere £250,000 each.

Steve described how his dream of producing NOVA became a reality.

"About this time last year I remember sitting in the office sketching it onto a piece of paper," said the father-of-two.

"Then I got the technical drawing people to turn it into what you see now. It feels really good to actually see it and I’m going to get a real buzz when it’s launched."

He said the unveiling – at a warehouse in Hyde – was ‘time to show the world just what we have built’.

Ready for big lift-off - June 28, 2001

"IT’S OK unveiling something and saying this is what we’re going to do, but we’ve built this and we will fly it," said a confident Steve.

Before he embarks on his first solo manned flight – which will take him 10,000ft up – he admitted there’s a lot of preparation.

"I’ve been sky diving to practice how to escape the rocket if all doesn’t go to plan and I want to get 100 jumps in before the flight.

"I’ve also been doing centrifuge training where you’re spun round on the end of a long pivoted arm to make you feel many times your body weight – similar to how you’ll feel when the rocket accelerates."

Steve said just sitting in the capsule – which will come back down by parachute with Steve inside – takes a lot of getting used to.

"It’s like sitting on the roof of a house, it’s small and cramped. It sways and creaks so it’s important whoever goes up is used to the enclosed space so they don’t freak out before the launch."

NOVA will be the star attraction at the Tomorrow’s World Live Event in Earls Court, London, until July 1, 2001.

Daring Steve ready to go up in own rocket - February 22, 2001

HE spent the best part of January skydiving out of planes two-and-a-half miles up – but from Dukinfield’s rocket man, we’ve come to expect nothing less.

D-day is fast approaching for Steve Bennett as the launch of his manned rocket into space gets even closer.

His current aim is to win the XPRIZE competition – where £6.25m is being offered to the first non-governmental organisation in space.

In July last year Steve launched Starchaser Discovery – his biggest rocket to date – which soared 19,000ft above Morecambe Bay.

He’s already planned a one-man flight in Nevada for later this year and hopes to go for the big prize in 2003.

Before that there’s a lot of preparation to be done, including practising how to escape safely from the rocket if all doesn’t go to plan.

He began his skydiving training in Florida where he completed 34 jumps in just two weeks.

"The first time I did it was pretty hair-raising because I’ve never done anything like it before," said Steve. "You’re 13,500ft up having to jump out of a perfectly good plane – it just didn’t make sense.

"But it got easier and I really enjoyed it, I’m kind of missing it because it gets in your blood," he added.

Next stop was Arizona where in September Steve and his team plan to test out landing a capsule.

"We’ll be kicking the capsule out of the back of a plane. It’ll have a parachute attached and I’ll be inside steering it.

"But if the parachute fails I’ll have my own inside and will be able to escape safely with that. There’ll be two skydivers on either side in case anything goes wrong and they need to get me out," said Steve, 36.

The father-of-two is remarkably calm about his escapades.

"I’ll be fully prepared, that’s why I’m doing all the training. The most worrying thing about a flight is the first few seconds.

"If something goes wrong then, there’s not a lot you can do, but once the engines shut off and it’s in descent there’s a lot you can do to put the problems right."

Steve’s company, Starchaser Industries Ltd, is based at Salford University but he’s recently expanded the operation closer to home creating three full-time jobs.

"We moved into a factory in Hyde a couple of weeks ago. We’re still at the university, we just didn’t have enough room because the rockets are getting bigger and bigger."