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“SpaceShipOne was a suborbital air-launched spaceplane that completed the first manned private spaceflight in 2004. That same year, it won the US$10 million Ansari X Prize and was immediately retired from active service. Its mothership was named “White Knight”. Both craft were developed and flown by Mojave Aerospace Ventures, which was a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan's aviation company. Allen provided the funding of approximately US$25 million.

Rutan has indicated that ideas about the project began as early as 1994 and the full-time development cycle time to the 2004 accomplishments was about three years. The vehicle first achieved supersonic flight on December 17, 2003, which was also the one-hundredth anniversary of the Wright Brothers' historic first powered flight. SpaceShipOne's first official spaceflight, known as flight 15P, was piloted by Mike Melvill. A few days before that flight, the Mojave Air and Space Port was licensed as the USA's first commercial spaceport. A few hours after that flight, Melvill became the first licensed U.S. commercial astronaut. The overall project name was “Tier One” which has evolved into Tier 1b with a goal of taking a successor ship's first passengers into space within the next few years”. – Wikipedia








SpaceShipOne attached to White Knight takes off at the Mojave Airport, September 29, 2004 in Mojave, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)










SpaceShipOne, attached to the bottom of the carrier plane The White Knight, gains altitude during flight at the Mojave Airport at the Mojave Airport, September 29, 2004 in Mojave, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)






The “White Knight” circles the runway prior to landing after carrying SpaceShipOne to lauch altitude on it's second voyage in a week to reach outer space in an attempt to win the $10 million ANSARI X PRIZE at the Mojave Airport Civilian Aerospace Test Center on October 4, 2004 in Mojave, California. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)










A chase plane follows SpaceShipOne after it reached a height of 62 miles in the first non-governmental flight to leave the Earth's atmosphere on June 21, 2004 in Mojave, California. SpaceShipOne spacecraft was carried to a height of 50,000 by the twin-turbojet high-altitude research aircraft, “White Knight”, where it was launched for its final climb. The space effort was funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and headed by aerospace engineer Burt Rutan. (Photo by Jim Campbell-Pool/Getty Images)






SpaceShipOne climbs after launching from White Knight to eventually reach a height of 62 miles in the first non-governmental flight to leave the Earth's atmosphere on June 21, 2004 in Mojave, California. (Photo by Jim Campbell-Pool/Getty Images)






SpaceShipOne is rolled to the post flight ceremonies after Pilot Michael Melvill landed to complete a successfull flight at the Mojave Airport September 29, 2004 in Mojave, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)






Pilot Michael Melvill stands on top of SpaceShipOne after completing a successfull flight at the Mojave Airport, September 29, 2004 in Mojave, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)






A model of SpaceShipTwo is seen with the original SpaceShipOne visible outside as Virgin Galactic unveils its new SpaceShipTwo spacecraft at the Mojave Spaceport on December 7, 2009 near Mojave, California. The eight-person VSS Enterprise, named after the Star Trek ship of the same name, is the first of a series of space-planes for customers of Virgin Galactic who have paid around $200,000 for a suborbital flight into space. British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson is financing the spacecraft and aerospace designer Burt Rutan is building it through The Spaceship Company, a joint venture of Scaled Composites and Virgin Group. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
26 Jun 2011 09:56:00