spacetoday.net: SpaceShipOne reaches space

Updated: Mon, Jun 21, 2004, 4:23 PM ET (2023 GMT)
Originally Posted: Mon, Jun 21, 2004, 1:26 PM ET (1726 GMT)
SpaceShipOne on 7th glide flight (Scaled Composites)

The suborbital RLV SpaceShipOne launched early Monday and just barely succeeded in crossing the 100-km boundary of space. SpaceShipOne separated from its White Knight carrier aircraft at about 10:50 am EDT (1450 GMT), one hour after takeoff from Mojave Airport in California. The vehicle's engines burned for about 80 seconds accelerating the vehicle to the edge of space. At a press conference after the flight SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan said that the vehicle exceeded the 100-km boundary of space by less than 125 meters. The vehicle suffered a problem with an actuator that controls its roll trim system during the flight, causing the vehicle to go over 30 km off-course and causing the vehicle to undershoot its planned altitude of about 110 km. The vehicle also suffered damage to a fairing that surrounds the underside of the vehicle's engine nozzle. Rutan said the problem was most likely with the new fairing, and not a problem with the rocket motor. Rutan added that additional analysis of the flight data will be needed before they can decide whether their next test flight will be a bid for the Ansari X Prize.