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Steve's Russian rocket suit fitting

26/ 9/2002

ROCKET pioneer Steve Bennett is being measured up for his space suit as his schoolboy dreams of blasting into space take another giant leap.

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

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 X 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 Health 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."