We'll be sending tourists into orbit by 2021, claims boss of Manchester-based firm
Lift off: Starchaser Industries plans to send a manned rocket into space within five years
A British space travel company will send a manned rocket into space within the next five years, according to its boss.
Rocket man Steve Bennett, who set up and runs Manchester-based Starchaser Industries, said the company is 'pretty close' to putting tourists in space.
'Space tourism is going to be the big business of the 21st century,' he said.
'It's going to be the dotcom boom all over again.'
The flight will only take an hour and will see the rocket reach around 330,000ft – ten times the average cruising altitude for an aeroplane flight.
Bennett said it will allow people to see the 'curvature of the earth and the blackness of space'.
He added: 'It's like a big hop. We're pretty close to doing it. We are probably about three to five years away. It's been a long haul, but we are getting very close.'
Bennett, who as a child made rockets with his chemistry set, set up Starchaser in 1992.
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