Private spaceship set for launch in US
Travelling into space is a viable commercial business, says one company planning to shoot past Earth later this month.
The SpaceShipOne project, backed by Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, and led by aviation expert Burt Rutan, plans to send a rocket plane 100 kilometres into the air and back down again in California’s Mojave Desert, organisers said on Wednesday.
If successful, it will be the world’s first privately funded rocket plane
“Every time SpaceShipOne flies, we demonstrate that relatively modest amounts of private funding can significantly increase the boundaries of commercial space technology,” Allen, a well-known technology and science fiction fan, said in a statement.
The rocket plane, which will be carried to an altitude of 15,240 metres by a larger carrier aircraft called the White Knight, will spend about three and a half minutes at its peak altitude, during which the test pilot will experience weightlessness.
First major step
During the latest test flight in May, test pilot Mike Melvill reached an altitude of about 65km, about two-thirds of the goal for the next flight, scheduled for 21 June.
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“Every time SpaceShipOne flies, we demonstrate that relatively modest amounts of private funding can significantly increase the boundaries of commercial space technology” Paul Allen, |
That was already the highest altitude ever achieved by a non-government aerospace programme, and SpaceShipOne’s organisers are calling the forthcoming flight the first major step towards space flight for civilians.
To promote private space flight, the X Prize Foundation is offering $10 million to the first team that launches a piloted, privately funded spaceship with three people on board to 100
kilometres, brings it back to earth, and repeats the flight again within the three weeks.
Although SpaceShipOne’s inaugural launch later this month will not qualify for that prize, it is equipped with three seats and will later compete for the prize, organisers said.
Unique design
At least 26 other teams are also competing for the prize, reportedly involving backers such as Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos as well as Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
SpaceShipOne doesn’t look like a typical rocket, except for its bullet-shaped fuselage.
Built with delta-style wings, which can be tilted 90 degrees to slow the vehicle during re-entry, SpaceShipOne will nestle underneath the White Night, a specially designed carrier airplane with its own unique, triple-fuselage design.
At its peak altitude, SpaceShipOne’s pilot will be able to see the black sky of space and the curvature of the earth.
SpaceShipOne was designed and built by Burt Rutan and his aerospace company Scaled Composites LLC in California, for an estimated $25 million.
Rutan developed the Voyager, the only aircraft ever to fly non-stop around the world without refuelling.