THUNDERBIRD

	Thunderbird is a low cost fully reusable VTOL rocket from UK based Starchaser Industries, which has an established track record in unmanned rocketry. It is an X-Prize contender, and is designed to carry three people on a short sub-orbital pleasure flights into space. The vehicle uses existing off-the-shelf components wherever possible to minimize development cost, combined with an advanced composite for the airframe. The primary propulsion is provided by LOX/kerosene engines which carry the vehicle to a maximum altitude of 100km after burnout before re-entering tail-first using a steerable parasail. Reaction control is handled independantly by cold gas thrusters. The Thunderbird is a single stage vehicle, but composed of two discreet and seperable units: a command module, which includes the cabin, life support, and reaction control system, and a propulsion module comprising the fuel tanks, engines, and landing gear. In an emergency the command module is detachable from the rest of the vehicle, allowing the crew to bebrought down independently.
NOVA	Nova is a scaled down version of Thunderbird designed to bridge the gap between previously flown unmanned rockets and Thunderbird, and is currently in construction. Standing at roughly 2/3rds of the height of its 52 foot larger sibling, Nova is designed to carry a single person into space, to a maximum altitude of approximately 100km. Although not an X-Prize contender due to its less than three person capacity, Nova is intended to be the world's first privately developed spaceship.