Rocket launch ushers in cheap space flight

NEW MEXICO - A rocket packed with cargo is set to blast off into space from a desert launch range in New Mexico, an event backers say will usher in a new era of cheap public access to space.

UP Aerospace plans to launch the SpaceLoft XL rocket early on Monday local time from Spaceport America, a remote desert launch site near the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

The telephone pole-sized rocket will carry around 50 items of payload -- including a Ziploc bag of Cheerios, some cremated remains and several high school science projects -- on a brief sub-orbital flight 110km above Earth.

The rocket is not the first privately funded bid to reach for the stars.

Two years ago, SpaceShipOne brushed the edge of space with a man on board, scooping up a US$10 million ($15 million) prize for its backers.

But Connecticut-based UP Aerospace says the brief 13-minute flight will inaugurate a new era that puts space within reach of large numbers of paying customers.

Chief executive Eric Knight said clients could buy payload space starting at a few hundred dollars for items weighing a few grams, rising to "many tens of thousands of dollars" for larger pieces of cargo.

"This is the first time that a company has allowed direct access to space for the public," Knight told Reuters.

"It's low cost, it can be regularly scheduled, (and) it's the way it's going to be done by the commercial sector in the future," he added.

The rocket, which is plastered with sponsors' logos, was subjected to a series of final pre-flight checks by engineers.

The firm has nine flights booked over the next 12 months, hurtling payloads of up to 50 kg up to the edge of space on a solid-fuel rocket that reaches speeds of 5633 km/h -- five times the speed of sound.

The items on board range from the sentimental to serious-minded high school and university science experiments.

Among the payload are the ashes of Warren Kirkley, a veterinarian from Colorado. His family trekked miles down dusty ranch roads to visit the launch site on Sunday.

"This is wonderful, he would be very happy," his widow Betty said as she gazed up at the rocket.

"Now he can look down on all of us and say 'you people enjoy life'."

The rocket is to return from space in two parachuted sections landing at nearby White Sands Missile Range.

Should all go as planned, the flight will also inaugurate Spaceport America, the world's first commercial spaceport, a US$225 million project developed with support from the New Mexico state government.

"Monday's flight is a very important first step toward developing Spaceport America," said Charles Wollmann, a spokesman for New Mexico's economic development department.

British tycoon Richard Branson said last year he would use the site as a base for his space tours firm, Virgin Galactic, which plans to blast tourists into space by the end of the decade.

Wollmann said data from the rocket flight would be used for an environmental impact study authorities need to conduct before getting Federal Aviation Administration approval to operate.

"Obviously we're all very excited about it right now, but also just a little bit nervous," he added.

- REUTERS