Starchaser Industries

The creator of Starchaser Foundation, Steve Bennett of Dukinfield was a laboratory technician at Colgate. Later, Steve taught at the University of Salford as a part-time lecturer of Space Physics.

Colgate initially sponsored his project and was later aided by Salford University.

The Starchaser Foundation was created in March 1996. The company was sponsored by Tate & Lyle as the first rockets were powered by sugar.

In December 1998 the foundation become a private limited company known as Starchaser Industries. Engines were tested in 1999 at the Altcar Rifle Range in Merseyside. It moved to new premises in Hyde in January 2001. The company was sponsored by Microsoft and the Discovery Channel and it employed twelve people.

On 22 November 2001, Starchaser 4 was launched from Morecambe Bay as a full-scale, non-space test of its rocket systems. The rocket flew below 10,000 feet to comply with UK Civil Aviation Authority rules. Starchaser 4 flew to a height of approximately 5,538 feet before parachuting down into the bay. In 2001 Starchaser 4 was the biggest rocket ever fired from the UK mainland. The rocket was originally intended to be reusable but was damaged on landing.

In 2002 work began on NOVA 2 the progenitor rocket system to Starchaser's intended Space tourism Vehicle Thunderstar. The aim of this mission was to focus on the capsule and life-supporting systems of the rocket. In 2004 there were successful tests of the NOVA 2 capsule's landing gear to investigate methods of recovery of the capsule from land. On 1 July 2008, the 57-foot Nova 2 was unveiled to the public and toured around the UK. As of June 2022, the NOVA 2 still remains unlaunched.

Legal issues

In 2002 Steven Bennet took legal action against the BBC corporately (and Dr David Whitehouse, the BBC's award-winning science correspondent, personally. Such personal action was not legally required.) in response to a critical article written by Whitehouse. Bennet claimed that the article contained a number of errors and false allegations. The BBC defended its article robustly pointing out the absurdities of many of Mr Bennett's claims. Just before the trial, scheduled for July 2003 Starchaser backed down and said they would withdraw their case if the BBC agreed to pay Starchaser's costs. The BBC was prepared to go to court, especially given Starchaser's lack of confidence in their case, but in the interests of saving licence fee payer's money agreed to pay Starchaser's costs. The BBC did not issue Starchaser with an apology and continues to stand by its article, recently noting that 18 years after the original article Starchaser are no closer to getting into space.

In 2014, it became known that a bookkeeper which had worked six years for the company had committed fraud by forging hundreds of money transfers to suppliers that never happened, diverting the funds to their own bank account. A total of £167,000 was stolen from the company. The crime was finally discovered when Starchaser Industries received debt letters from their landlords concerning money she allegedly had paid.