<p>Starchaser boss Steve Bennett and astronaut Matt Shrewbridge hope to do so by 2015. However, the Manchester-based firm must first carry out a series of trials.<br /><br />Currently, Russia's space agency has been taking tourists into space on payment.<br />The first 'milestone' in November will be testing their 20 feet Launch Escape System (LES) - a rescue pod that separates from the rocket if the spacecraft fails, reports the Daily Mail. <br /><br />And next year they plan a manned launch test, firing the already-built 70 feet 'Starchaser 4' off the ground in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire. If successful, it will be the biggest rocket ever launched in Britain.<br /><br />During both test flights - kept within the Earth's orbit - the LES will be controlled from the ground. <br /><br />Once Starchaser is fully operational, passenger-rockets will take off from Spaceport America near the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. <br />Starchaser owns 20 acres and buildings at the site, which will eventually become mission control for the amazing operation.<br /><br />Two unnamed tourists have already paid 250,000 pounds each for the first seats and other places are available at 98,000 pounds (plus taxes). <br />Tourists will be treated to a 23-minute sub-orbital flight 62 miles up, and will officially enter space.<br /><br />Bennett, who runs the project from Starchaser's Manchester headquarters, explained: "A sub-orbital spaceflight is when the spacecraft reaches space, but does not enter into an orbit around the earth." <br /><br />"It's a straight up and straight down flight following a large arc - like a a giant roller coaster ride without the wheels and tracks."<br /><br />"Our customers will get to fly in a real rocket, wearing a real spacesuit and will undertake an authentic space mission just like the early astronauts did in the 1960s."<br />"They will see the blackness of outer space, the curvature of the earth and they will <br />feel weightless for a few minutes." </p>
<p>Starchaser boss Steve Bennett and astronaut Matt Shrewbridge hope to do so by 2015. However, the Manchester-based firm must first carry out a series of trials.<br /><br />Currently, Russia's space agency has been taking tourists into space on payment.<br />The first 'milestone' in November will be testing their 20 feet Launch Escape System (LES) - a rescue pod that separates from the rocket if the spacecraft fails, reports the Daily Mail. <br /><br />And next year they plan a manned launch test, firing the already-built 70 feet 'Starchaser 4' off the ground in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire. If successful, it will be the biggest rocket ever launched in Britain.<br /><br />During both test flights - kept within the Earth's orbit - the LES will be controlled from the ground. <br /><br />Once Starchaser is fully operational, passenger-rockets will take off from Spaceport America near the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. <br />Starchaser owns 20 acres and buildings at the site, which will eventually become mission control for the amazing operation.<br /><br />Two unnamed tourists have already paid 250,000 pounds each for the first seats and other places are available at 98,000 pounds (plus taxes). <br />Tourists will be treated to a 23-minute sub-orbital flight 62 miles up, and will officially enter space.<br /><br />Bennett, who runs the project from Starchaser's Manchester headquarters, explained: "A sub-orbital spaceflight is when the spacecraft reaches space, but does not enter into an orbit around the earth." <br /><br />"It's a straight up and straight down flight following a large arc - like a a giant roller coaster ride without the wheels and tracks."<br /><br />"Our customers will get to fly in a real rocket, wearing a real spacesuit and will undertake an authentic space mission just like the early astronauts did in the 1960s."<br />"They will see the blackness of outer space, the curvature of the earth and they will <br />feel weightless for a few minutes." </p>