Sister blog of Physicists of the Caribbean in which I babble about non-astronomy stuff, because everyone needs a hobby

Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Britain's biggest rocket

The largest rocket to blast off from the British mainland has launched from Northumberland for a test flight, fuelling hopes that it could pave the way for commercial flights into space. Built and privately funded by the Manchester-based firm Starchaser, the Skybolt 2 successfully fired into the sky from the back of a converted flatbed truck in Otterburn, a village 31 miles north-east of Newcastle in the usually tranquil Northumberland national park.

Starchaser !!! Good God, the last time I heard that name was probably 15 years ago when they were setting the same record with another rocket. Nice to know they're still around.

The rocket will now tour thousands of schools as part of an educational outreach programme. Bennett is shooting for the stars with his next project: Nova 2 is “a 12-metre rocket big enough to carry a person” and is intended to launch within the next 18 months.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/sep/11/largest-rocket-to-blast-off-from-uk-mainland-paves-way-for-space-tourism

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