A rocket enthusiast has unveiled his latest creation as he pursues a decades-long dream of sending tourists into space.
Steven Bennett, managing director of Starchaser Industries, based at a unit on an industrial estate in Hyde, Greater Manchester, said Nova 2 will blast off next year.
It will carry a crash test dummy and safety systems for manned launches planned for the future.
Mr Bennett said his bid to reach for the stars came from childhood memories of watching the Apollo moon landings and sci-fi puppet show Thunderbirds.
He added: “Ultimately we are looking at doing space tourism. People will pay us money, get to wear a spacesuit, we’ll launch them more than 100 kilometres out into space, and they’ll see the curvature of the Earth, the blackness of space and then we’ll bring them back again.
“We are very close to being able to do that, so another few years and we are going to make that happen.
“What we need to do is raise the funds – we need a bit more money coming in.”
A date for the launch of Nova 2 has yet to be released.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here