New Zealand is about to join the growing international space industry with a suborbital rocket capable of shooting 150 kilometres into the sky.
Auckland based company Rocket Lab has designed the 5.5-metre tall unmanned rocket which will be used for scientific research.
"It's designed to launch commercial and research payloads such as micro-gravity, solar physics, climate change, upper atmospheric testing," says Business development manager Mark Rocket.
Rocket, a dedicated space enthusiast who changed his last name seven years ago, says commercial aspects may be considered such as sending ashes and mementos into space.
The rocket will travel at four times the speed of sound and will take a highly-specialised carbon-composite, solid-fuel. It has to be landed intact with gathered research carefully preserved.
According to Rocket the private space industry is starting to go through a period of swift development, with space hotels, space lines and launch platforms "popping up all over the place".
He also says New Zealand is the perfect place to set up a rocket launch business because of its clear air space and favourable regulatory environment.
And for those considering using the rocket, science missions will cost somewhere between $50,000 to $100,000 which the company says is a relatively cheap way to access space.
Economic Development Minister Trevor Mallard has praised Rocket Lab for its creativeness and spirit, saying its efforts may open up new opportunities for the aviation sector.
Mallard also says commercial opportunities in the space industry are growing with NASA contracting out much of its work globally to private providers.
The rocket will take off for the first time in September
2008.
