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Brit’s Thunderbird Rocket Vies for $10 Million X-Prize (Species Coalescence)

Brit’s Thunderbird Rocket Vies for $10 Million X-Prize
British rocket man unveils latest spaceship

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Would-be amateur astronaut Steve Bennett and his British team hoping to send the world's first privately funded rocket into space unveiled their latest rocket on Thursday.

The rocket man, who hopes one day to fulfil a lifetime's dream by blasting off into space, showed off the single seater Nova II, built by his Starchaser company.

The new rocket will be shipped to the U.S. and dropped unmanned over the Red Lake Drop Zone in Arizona from 14,000 ft (4,250 metres) to test its landing systems. If successful, a manned test will take place before the summer, making it Britain's first ever manned rocket capsule.

"We have proved the design of the rocket and capsule both on paper and in the air. It's now time to show the world that we mean business and move on to the manned phase," said Steve, from Manchester, northern England.

The tests will allow the team to move on to building their ultimate rocket, Thunderbird.

Starchaser are quietly confident that Thunderbird will blast off into the history books in 2005, netting the company $10 million in the process.

The money is the reward for the winner of the X-Prize, offered by a private group to the first non-governmental organisation capable of launching three people into space -- and bringing them back.

"No one else in the competition has even launched a rocket yet," a Starchaser spokesman said.

It was 10 years ago that Bennett decided to move from making rockets as a hobby to trying to become a full-time spaceman.

"This has always been my dream for as long as I can remember -- to get into space," he told Reuters last year.

"I wanted to see how far I could go before the men in white suits came to stop me."

04/03/03 10:51 ET

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PHOTO: The Thunderbird crew capsule, shown in this artist's conception, would carry up to three humans to a height of 62 miles (100 kilometers). Such a flight could win a $10 million prize.

Thu Apr 3