Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne
SpaceShipOne is an experimental spaceplane, which on June 21 2004 made the first privately-funded human spaceflight (for which see the separate article on SpaceShipOne flight 15P). It is an air launched suborbital spaceplane, using a hybrid rocket motor. It has been developed by Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan's aviation company, in their Tier One program, with no government funding.
SpaceShipOne is a leading contender for the Ansari X Prize, the prize for the first non-governmental reusable manned spacecraft. It may win the prize on October 4 2004, the 47th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, but faces close competition from the da Vinci Project.
This article is about flights made by SpaceShipOne. For information on the design of SpaceShipOne, see the separate article on Tier One.
History
The Scaled Composites model number of SpaceShipOne is 316.
SpaceShipOne is registered with the FAA as N328KF. 'N' is the prefix for US-registered aircraft; '328KF' stands for 328 thousand (K) feet (approximately 100 kilometers, the officially designated edge of space). The original choice of registry number, N100KM, was already taken. It is registered as a glider, reflecting the fact that most of its independent flight is unpowered.
All the SpaceShipOne flights have been based at the Mojave Airport Civilian Flight Test Center.
SpaceShipOne made its first flight, flight 01C, on May 20 2003. It was an uncrewed captive carry flight test. Glide tests followed, starting with flight 03G on August 7 2003. The first powered flight, flight 11P, was made on December 17 2003, the 100th anniversary of the first ever powered flight by the Wright Brothers.
On April 1, 2004, Scaled Composites received the first license for sub-orbital piloted rocket flights to be issued by the US Department of Transportation. This license permits the company to conduct powered test flights for a period of one year. On June 17 2004 Mojave Airport reclassified itself (part-time) as the Mojave Spaceport.
Flight 15P on June 21 2004 was SpaceShipOne's first spaceflight, and the first privately-funded human spaceflight. This was a successful test flight, with a couple of technical problems, now resolved. Scaled Composites reports that the next flights (16P and 17P) will be attempting to win the X Prize. If either of those is not successful, they may make a third competitive flight.
Pilots
The SpaceShipOne pilots are:
The pilots come from a variety of aerospace backgrounds. Melvill is a test pilot, Binnie was a Navy pilot, and Shane and Siebold are engineers at Scaled Composites. They have qualified to fly SpaceShipOne by training on the Tier One flight simulator and in White Knight and other Scaled Composites aircraft.
Flights
Flights of SpaceShipOne are numbered, starting with flight 01 on May 20 2003. One or two letters are appended to the number to indicate the type of mission. An appended C indicates that the flight was a captive carry, G indicates an unpowered glide, and P indicates a powered flight. If the flight actually flown differs in category from the intended flight then two letters are appended, the first giving the intended mission and the second the mission actually performed.
In the table below, the "top speed" reported is the Mach number at burn-out (the end of the rocket burn). This is not an absolute speed.
There is a long-standing plan, known as task 21, that, once spaceflights have been demonstrated, SpaceShipOne will fly into space every Tuesday for twenty consecutive weeks, to demonstrate aircraft-like routine operation. As of September 2004, no date has yet been set for the start of task 21.
