Christchurch's own rocket man still wants to be launched into space after a test flight for the world's first space tourism venture ended in tragedy.

Christchurch entrepreneur Mark Rocket paid about $300,000 in 2006 to book a flight on one of Virgin Galactic's first commercial space flights.

Rocket told The Press yesterday he was not put off going into space by the fatal crash of Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo during a test flight near Los Angeles last week.

The crash killed 39-year-old co-pilot Michael Alsbury and injured pilot Pete Siebold, 43.

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Rocket said there was a lot of speculation about what happened but he fully supported Virgin Galactic and its "ambitious goal" of making space more accessible.

"Obviously it's a dream to get into space . . . it's something that would be an incredible experience," he said.

Rocket co-founded aerospace company Rocket Lab in 2007, which was responsible for the first privately owned rocket to be launched in the southern hemisphere.

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Space blast no deterrent for Rocket man