please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article is written like a personal reflection or opinion essay that states the wikipedia editor s personal feelings about a topic rather than the opinions of experts . please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style . october 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . october 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message starchaser industries ltd starchaser mission badge motto the sky is not the limit formation 1992 legal status private company purpose commercial space access space tourism and educational outreach location unit 7 hyde point dunkirk lane hyde greater manchester sk14 4nl region served uk chief executive steve bennett website starchaser industries starchaser industries is a privately owned company based in the uk whose principal aim is to become a viable business in space tourism . formed in 1992 the company has designed and built several rocket systems all prototypes to investigate the feasibility of producing a space tourism vehicle . starchaser s rocket nova 1 launched in 2001 from morecambe bay still holds the uk record for the biggest successful rocket launch ever fired from the british mainland . 1 since 2002 starchaser have operated an educational outreach programme that has grown steadily to become a now major aspect of the company . this arm of the company aims to take traditionally difficult and abstract areas of physics and chemistry and explain their use in rocket building . contents 1 history 2 manned spaceflight 3 rockets 3.1 launched rockets 3.2 unlaunched rockets 4 engines 4.1 churchill series 4.1.1 churchill mki 4.1.2 churchill mkii 4.1.3 churchill mk iii 4.2 other engines 4.2.1 storm 5 education 6 legal issues 7 see also 8 references 9 external links 9.1 news items 9.2 video clips history edit it began in 1992 when steve bennett of dukinfield was a laboratory technician at colgate who sponsored the project initially . by 1998 steve was teaching at the university of salford as a professor of space physics citation needed and had students help out on several of starchaser s early rockets . the first rockets were powered by sugar ; in fact the company was sponsored by tate & lyle until march 1996 when it became known as the starchaser foundation . by december 1998 the company changed again and become a private limited company now known as starchaser industries . engines were tested in 1999 at the altcar rifle range in merseyside . it moved to new premises in hyde in january 2001 . by this stage the company was sponsored by microsoft and the discovery channel and employed twelve people . on 22 november 2001 starchaser 4 was launched from morecambe bay as a full scale test of rocket systems . it was never intended to be a full flight into space above 100 km as the uk civil aviation authority restricts any rocket testing on the uk mainland to below 10 000 feet . citation needed starchaser 4 flew to a height of approximately 5 538 feet before parachuting back down into the bay . this was at the time the biggest rocket ever fired from the uk mainland . the rocket originally intended to be reusable was damaged on landing and only launched one time . in 2002 work began on nova 2 the pregenitor rocket system to starchaser s space tourism vehicle thunderstar . the aim of this mission was to focus on the capsule and life supporting systems of the rocket . in 2004 there were successful tests of the nova 2 capsule s landing gear to investigate methods of recovery of the capsule by land . on 1 july 2008 the 57 foot nova 2 was unveiled to the public and did extensive touring around the uk . nova 2 still sits unlaunched however a launch may be likely in the near future . manned spaceflight edit this section needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . september 2015 starchaser hoped to launch manned missions from the uk but as this outcome is unlikely in the foreseeable future . starchaser has bought land at spaceport america in new mexico next to the white sands missile range where the company owns 20 acres of land with buildings . it is likely any near future space flight rocket tests will have to be carried out here due to the uk caa flight restrictions and the superior space faring infrastructure already present in the us . it had originally hoped to provide manned spaceflight by 2003 . in june 2001 the company unveiled the 33 foot nova manned rocket which if modified could fly one person into space . later by 2005 the plan was for the manned rocket to be called the thunderstar launching from new mexico . by 2006 the un manned skybolt rocket was unveiled as a prototype for the thunderstar . rockets edit below is a list of key rocket tests starchaser has undertaken as well as their outcome . 2 launched rockets edit starchaser 1 1 november 1993 from bickerton cheshire flew to 2 400 feet where its parachutes failed to open and ended in a crash . starchaser 1a 23 may 1995 from sarn wales an upgraded starchaser 1 rocket and fully completed its objectives . recovered by parachute . starchaser 2 2 february 1996 from otterburn northumberland this was then the largest civilian rocket ever launched in europe and reached 1 890 feet ; below the 3 000 feet planned . it was powered by sugar and sponsored by tate & lyle . operated correctly lexx starchaser 3 7 february 1997 from otterburn nothumberland starchaser 3 was sponsored by pearson new entertainment to promote their lexx science fiction series . lexx reached an altitude of 15 673 feet and became the first starchaser rocket to break the sound barrier . achieved all of its objectives . starchaser 3 20 march 1998 at okehampton devon a rocket motor misfired shortly after launch and the rocket impacted the ground shortly after take off . tempest 5 march 1999 at altcar mersyside tempest became the first starchaser rocket to have a marine recovery . successful launch and completed all objectives . starchaser 3a 20 august 1999 from morecambe bay at cartmel wharf a height of 22 feet and reached an altitude of 20 000 feet with nine rocket motors ; this was in close co operation with the university of salford . generated over 4 tonnes of thrust . completed all objectives . sharp 1 2 may 2000 from morecambe bay flown to a height of over 18 000 feet and had nearly 5 seconds of supersonic flight . recovered safely . discovery 6 july 2000 from morecambe bay the world s first privately funded fully re usable two stage research rocket . sponsorship for this rocket came from the discovery channel . flew to a maximum altitude of 19 000 feet and was recovered safely . starchaser 4 22 november 2001 from morecambe bay the test sole test flight reached about 5 000 feet ; it is the largest rocket launched from british soil . 3 unlaunched rockets edit skybolt unveiled in 2006 this scale model of the space tourism vehicle was originally intended to be an intermediate test vehicle also capable of being used as a reusable sounding rocket . never launched it tours with starchaser s educational outreach team . 4 engines edit churchill series edit the first engines developed by starchaser were liquid propellant engines all named after wartime british prime minister winston churchill . 5 all churchill operate using liquid oxygen and kerosene . churchill mki edit starchaser s first attempt at designing a rocket engine and generated approximately 500 kg of thrust . used oxygen and kerosene with nitrogen to pressurise the engine . churchill mkii edit six times as powerful as its predecessor the mkii had a maximum thrust of 3000 kg and used the same gas mixture to pressurise the system . churchill mk iii edit the mkiii massively improves on the markii again ; this time by a factor of five . around 15 000 kg of thrust could be achieved from this engine ; making it the most powerful engine starchaser have . the pressurising gas was this time helium . other engines edit storm edit the storm engine is basically a scaled down churchill mkiii for use in the skybolt rocket . 6 able to produce around 7000 kg of thrust it acts as an operational successor to the churchill research engines . education edit the company operate an educational outreach programme for schools and other similar entities in the uk . using real examples of rockets and scientific principles the programme aims to excite and inspire pupils to get interested in science and engineering . the outreach side of starchaser contributes extensively to their much needed funding . from 2005 onwards due to the amount of money needed to continue research and development on the rockets increasing rapidly the tour of schools became a more important part of the company . legal issues edit in 2002 steven bennet took legal action against the bbc corporately and dr david whitehouse the bbc s science correspondent personally . such a personal action was not legally necessary in response to an article written by whitehouse . bennet claimed that the article contained a number of errors and false allegations . 7 8 the bbc defended its article robustly . just before the trial scheduled for july 2003 starchaser withdrew their action and decided not to go to court with their case provided the bbc agreed to pay starchaser s costs . this meant starchaser obtained no benefit from the litigation . the bbc was prepared to go to court but in the interests of saving licence fee payer s money agreed but did not issue starchaser with an apology and the bbc continues to stand by its article . citation needed see also edit list of private spaceflight companies references edit chronology of events . http www.starchaser.co.uk chron key events.php bunyan nigel 23 november 2001 . amateur s rocket soars 5 000ft over morecambe bay . the telegraph . retrieved 13 september 2015 . skybolt profile . starchaser industries . retrieved 13 september 2015 . http starchaser.co.uk churchhill project.php http starchaser.co.uk storm more.php whitehouse david 26 june 2001 . private rocket launch is suicidal . bbc news online . bbc news . archived from the original on 26 june 2001 . retrieved 13 september 2015 . derbyshire david 31 august 2002 . rocket builder sues bbc for 50 000 . the daily telegraph . london . retrieved 2013 08 15 . external links edit official website news items edit daily mail september 2010 bbc manchester in september 2008 radio manchester in september 2006 visiting a welsh school in april 2005 hereford & worcester in september 2003 starchaser discovery in july 2000 starchaser 3a in august 1999 starchaser 3 in august 1998 video clips edit starchaser youtube channel retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title starchaser industries & oldid 728974380 categories companies based in tamesidecompanies established in 1992organisations based in greater manchesterprivate spaceflight companiesscience and technology in greater manchesterspace programme of the united kingdomuniversity of salfordhidden categories use dmy dates from august 2013use british english from august 2013wikipedia articles needing style editing from october 2011all articles needing style editingarticles needing additional references from october 2011all articles needing additional