Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne

For information about the design of SpaceShipOne, and on related projects and commercial ventures, see Tier One.

Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne

The Scaled Composites Model 316 SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched suborbital spaceplane that uses a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "shuttlecock" reentry system whose half-delta wing folds upward at the center of its twin tail booms; this increases drag while remaining stable.

The achievements of SpaceShipOne are more comparable to the X-15 than orbiting spacecraft like the Space Shuttle. Accelerating a spacecraft to orbital speed requires more than 30 times as much energy as lifting it to 100 km.

SpaceShipOne was developed by Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan's aviation company, in their Tier One program, without government funding. On June 21, 2004, it made the first privately-funded human spaceflight, and on October 4, it won the $10-million Ansari X Prize, by reaching 100 kilometers in altitude twice in a two-week period with the equivalent of three people on board, with no more than ten percent of the non-fuel weight of the spacecraft replaced between flights. Development costs were estimated to be $25-million, funded largely by Paul Allen.

New funding comes from British tycoon Richard Branson, who is to fund the successor SpaceShipTwo for his new company Virgin Galactic through a 21 million US$ deal. During its testing regime, SpaceShipOne set a number of important "firsts", including first privately-funded aircraft to exceed Mach 2 and Mach 3, first privately-funded spacecraft to exceed 100km altitude and first privately-funded reusable spacecraft.

History

SpaceShipOne has a 5-metre wingspan and a 3-person cabin.

SpaceShipOne is registered with the FAA as N328KF. 'N' is the prefix for US-registered aircraft; '328KF' was chosen by Scaled Composites to stand for 328000 (k{ilo}) feet (about 100 kilometers, the officially designated edge of space). The original choice of registry number, N100KM, was already taken. N328KF is registered as a glider, reflecting the fact that most of its independent flight is unpowered.

All of its flights have been from the Mojave Airport Civilian Flight Test Center.

SpaceShipOne's first flight, 01C, was an unmanned captive carry flight test on May 20, 2003. 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 powered flight.

On April 1, 2004, Scaled Composites received the first license for sub-orbital rocket flights to be issued by the US Department of Transportation. This license permits the company to conduct powered test flights for 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. Ansari X Prize flights followed, with flight 17P on October 4, 2004, winning the prize.

Astronauts

SpaceShipOne attached to the White Knight

The SpaceShipOne pilots are:

• Brian Binnie
• Mike Melvill
• Doug Shane
• Peter Siebold

The astronauts 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

All SpaceShipOne flights begin with the White Knight lofting SpaceShipOne to about 14 km, as demonstrated in this captive carry test of the two-vehicle system. The two vehicles have identical cockpits, as can be seen from the pattern of windows.

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 actual flight differs in category from the intended flight, two letters are appended: the first indicating 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.

Specifications (SpaceShipOne)

General characteristics

• Crew: one pilot (capable of taking 3)
• Length: 5 m
• Wingspan: 5 m
• Height:
• Core Diameter: 1.52 m
• Wing area: 15 m²
• Empty: 1,200 kg
• Loaded: 3,600 kg
• Maximum takeoff:
• Powerplant: 1x N₂O/HTPB SpaceDev Hybrid Solid rocket engine, 7,500 kgf (74 kN) thrust. I_sp: 250 s (2.5 km/s) Burn time: 87 seconds

Performance

• Maximum speed: Mach 3.09 (3,518 km/h)
• Range: 65 km
• Service ceiling: 112,000 m
• Rate of climb: 25,000 m/min
• Wing loading: 240 kg/m²
• Thrust-to-Weight: 20 N/kg

**Most info from astronautix.com

Related content

Related development: Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo – Scaled Composites Model 318

Comparable aircraft:

Designation sequence: SpaceShipOne — SpaceShipTwo — SpaceShipThree

Watching SpaceShipOne fly

SpaceShipOne test pilot Mike Melvill after the flight on September 29, 2004.

SpaceShipOne's spaceflights have been watched by large crowds at Mojave Spaceport. On July 25, 2005 SpaceShipOne landed at the Oshkosh Airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. After the airshow, the aircraft was flown to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum to be put on display. It was unveiled on Wednesday October 5, 2005 in the Milestones of Flight gallery and is now on display to the public in the main atrium between the Spirit of St. Louis and the Bell X-1.

SpaceShipOne at the National Air and Space Museum.

• Flight 18P of SpaceShipOne was a spaceflight in the Tier One program that was anticipated to take place on October 13, 2004.

Future flights of SpaceShipOne are no longer anticipated to occur, however an extensive flight program was originally envisioned to proceed after the X2 flight, before retirement to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. However, it appears that Burt Rutan decided not to risk damage to the historic craft.

Trivia

A piece of SpaceShipOne's carbon fiber material was launched aboard the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.[1]

SpaceShipOne became a popular model rocket in 2004. Estes Industries currently offers several flying model rockets of SpaceShipOne.

External links

• Tier One home page at Scaled Composites's website
  • Flight profile in PDF format and in JPG format
• SpaceShipOne video footage of flight 14P
• Private Craft to Shoot for Space by Irene Mona Klotz, Discovery News
• Wired News: SpaceShipOne Back on Course
• SpaceShipOne's FAA registration
• The Ansari X Prize
• SpaceShipOne documentary DVD - Mojave Magic
  • Song I Want To Go In A Space Ship about SpaceShipOne from Mojave Magic
  • Video of Burt Rutan singing the song at the 2005 Oshkosh airshow

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Category:Spaceship One

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