Non-Subscriber Extract
Historic Flight by Privately Funded Spaceship
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| 22 June 2004 |
By David Baker, Editor of Jane’s Space Directory
Launched from the White Knight carrier-plane, SpaceShipOne became the first non-government vehicle to exit the earth's atmosphere and reach the vacuum of space. Largely an arbitrary figure, 100 km is officially regarded as the qualifying altitude for space flight and thus Mike Melville joins the ranks of astronauts who until now have been launched into space exclusively by vehicles designed, paid for and operated through government agencies.
Funded by Microsoft baron Paul Allen and designed and built by Burt Rutan and his talented team of engineers and technicians at Scale Composites Inc., the US$20 million venture was stimulated by the coveted X-Prize. The Ansari X-Prize Foundation was set up to encourage privately funded human space flight and to date 26 teams have stepped forward to compete for the US$10 million reward. Set up officially in April 2003 the Tier One programme was Rutan's bid to create a space tourist business through innovative design and engineering. While the historic flight to the edge of space gives Melville a place in the history books it does not yet win the X-Prize for the team. To achieve that and comply with the qualifying rules, SpaceShipOne must conduct two flights within a two-week period. Yet, instead of displacing the efforts of the other 25 teams, success here is expected to encourage others to provide alternative opportunities for private citizens to experience the thrill of space flight.
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