Flight 16P of SpaceShipOne was a spaceflight in the Tier One program that took place on September 29, 2004. It was the first competitive flight in the Ansari X PRIZE competition to demonstrate a non-governmental reusable crewed spacecraft, and is hence also referred to as the X1 flight. A serious roll excursion occurred during boost, so the flight did not achieve the expected altitude. However, it exceeded 100km altitude, making it a successful X PRIZE flight.
X PRIZE rules required that the date and place of competitive flights be announced to the X PRIZE Foundation at least 60 days before the flight. Due to problems encountered during flight 15P on June 21, 2004, Scaled Composites did not immediately set a date for their competitive flights, suspecting that another test flight might be required. By July 7, 2004 Burt Rutan reported that the faults had been resolved and the next flights would be competitive. On July 27, 2004, the X PRIZE Foundation announced that Scaled Composites had given notice that they would make their first competitive flight on September 29, 2004.
The pilot initially selected for the flight withdrew due to stress about two weeks before the flight, after his wife gave birth and he also fell ill. Mike Melvill, who also piloted SpaceShipOne's sole previous spaceflight, stepped in to fly in his place. The choice of pilot was not publicly announced until about two hours before planned takeoff. Melvill was seen as a surprise choice, because after the previous flight he had said he wanted to take a break from flying SpaceShipOne and ride his motorbike more.
Manifest
Under Ansari X PRIZE rules, the flight was required to carry 180 kgpayload, to simulate two 90kg humanpassengers. Scaled Composites announced early on that this, their first X PRIZE flight, would carry inanimate payload rather than live passengers. The payload included:
X PRIZE flight monitoring equipment, known as the "gold box"
the Explorers Club flag, by arrangement between the Explorers Club and the X PRIZE Foundation
video equipment, producing a video stream that was broadcast live
The practice of carrying arbitrary non-functional items into space, which has previously been carried out by many Space Shuttle missions, is evidence that space travel is still widely seen as special. The value of symbolic items increases enormously if the item has flown in space, due to the restricted access to space. The teddy bear being carried for charity will be auctioned at a much higher price than it would otherwise command. Scaled Composites employees were made to sign a contract forbidding them from selling the mementos they put on the flight.
SpaceShipOne and White Knight bore several logos for the flight. These were:
"SpaceShipOne: a Paul G. Allen project" on SpaceShipOne
"White Knight" on White Knight
Virgin Galactic, on the tails, following the signing earlier in the week of an agreement for Virgin Galactic to license Tier One technology for space tourism
All times are in PDT, which is seven hours behind UTC. This was the local civil time at the spaceport on the day of the flight. All measurements are first stated in the U.S. customary units in which they were originally reported, with conversions to SI units also given.
The flight was planned to take off from Mojave Spaceport in the early morning, when wind conditions are most favourable. Takeoff was scheduled for 06:47, but was delayed because of winds gusting to 50mph (20 m/s), which subsided after sunrise. White Knight, carrying SpaceShipOne, taxied to the runway at 07:00, and took off at 07:11.
After takeoff, White Knight and SpaceShipOne ascended to the launch altitude, planned to be around 14km. At 08:09 SpaceShipOne was released, glided for 6 s, then went into nose-up attitude and the rocket motor was ignited. The rocket motor was capable of burning for approximately 87 s, having been upgraded since the previous flight. It was planned to shut off the motor at an altitude of 345,000 feet (105km), presumably to avoid pushing the envelope too far.
The spacecraft started rolling rapidly 50 s into the burn, while travelling at Mach 2.7. This was probably due to, or at least exacerbated by, pilot error. The pilot was not highly concerned by this, being confident that he could correct the situation, and he allowed the burn to continue during the roll. He later said "I thought it was kind of cool." The altitude was too high (and thus the atmosphere too thin) for the roll to cause significant aerodynamic stress, and it was correspondingly infeasible to damp the roll rate using the aerodynamic control surfaces.
When there was sufficient velocity to assure the achievement of the target altitude, as predicted by the navigational system, the ground controllers recommended that the pilot abort the burn. He promptly did so, 76 s into the burn, cutting it short by 11 s. After engine cutoff, the craft continued climbing while rolling. The pilot did not immediately work to damp the roll. Around apogee he took photographs of the Earth using a digital still camera.
The apogee altitude was estimated by the nearby Edwards Air Force Base, based on radar data, to be 337,569 feet (102.9km). Due to the early burn cutoff, this was far less than originally anticipated. However, it was more than the 100km necessary to qualify as a spaceflight and satisfy X PRIZE requirements. Early reports said that after the instruction from the ground the pilot had delayed the burn cutoff in order to exceed 100km; in fact the instruction was issued just after the 100km altitude was assured, and the pilot's reaction time accounts for the additional 2.9km.
After apogee, the pilot feathered the wing for atmospheric reentry. He then damped out the roll, without difficulty, using the reaction jets. Overall, the craft did 29 complete rolls. Atmospheric reentry proceeded normally, with the craft rapidly righting its attitude due to the stable high-drag configuration. It changed back to gliding configuration normally, glided back to the spaceport, and landed safely at 08:34. White Knight then landed at 08:39.
Spectacle
As with SpaceShipOne's previous flight, a crowd of thousands watched from Mojave Spaceport. Television coverage also occurred. SPACE.com provided live video from SpaceShipOne's cockpit.
At 06:09, shortly before planned takeoff, spectators were told to stay at the spaceport after the flight, to hear a "major announcement" about the future of the X PRIZE Foundation. As of October 4, 2004, it appears that no such announcement was actually made.[citation needed]
Spectator reaction was more muted than for SpaceShipOne flight 15P, the first SpaceShipOne flight to have spectators, which was also the first privately funded human spaceflight.[citation needed]
Later flights
To win the X PRIZE, a spacecraft must make two successful competitive flights within 14 days. With this flight on September 29, 2004, successful, a second spaceflight had to follow by October 13, 2004, in order to win.
Scaled Composites scheduled the second competitive flight, flight 17P, for October 4, 2004, the 47th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, and it was completed successfully on schedule. There was a possibility of a third competitive flight (18P) occurring by October 13, 2004, if either of the first two flights failed, but in the end this was not required.
The da Vinci Project, another X PRIZE contender, planned to make its first competitive flight on October 2, 2004, but encountered problems and had to delay its flights.
Scaled Composites is an American aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman. It is located at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, United States. Founded to develop experimental aircraft, the company now focuses on designing and developing concept craft and prototype fabrication processes for aircraft and other vehicles. It is known for unconventional designs, for its use of non-metal, composite materials, and for winning the Ansari X Prize with its experimental spacecraft SpaceShipOne.
The Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. It was modeled after early 20th-century aviation prizes, and aimed to spur development of low-cost spaceflight.
SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 3,000 ft/s (2,000 mph) / 910 m/s (3,300 km/h) using a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "feathering" atmospheric reentry system where the rear half of the wing and the twin tail booms folds 70 degrees upward along a hinge running the length of the wing; this increases drag while retaining stability. SpaceShipOne completed the first crewed private spaceflight in 2004. That same year, it won the US$10 million Ansari X Prize and was immediately retired from active service. Its mother ship 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.
Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan is a retired American aerospace engineer and entrepreneur noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, and energy-efficient air and space craft. He designed the record-breaking Voyager, which in 1986 was the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. He also designed the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, which in 2006 set the world record for the fastest and longest nonstop non-refueled circumnavigation flight in history. In 2004, Rutan's sub-orbital spaceplane design SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded spacecraft to enter the realm of space, winning the Ansari X-Prize that year for achieving the feat twice within a two-week period.
A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will not become an artificial satellite nor will it reach escape velocity.
The Scaled Composites Model 318 White Knight is a jet-powered carrier aircraft that was used to launch its companion SpaceShipOne, an experimental spaceplane. The White Knight and SpaceShipOne were designed by Burt Rutan and manufactured by Scaled Composites, a private company founded by Rutan in 1982. On three separate flights in 2004, White Knight conducted SpaceShipOne into flight, and SpaceShipOne then performed a sub-orbital spaceflight, becoming the first private craft to reach space.
Michael Winston Melvill is a world-record-breaking pilot and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne on its first flight past the edge of space, flight 15P on June 21, 2004, thus becoming the first commercial astronaut, and the 435th person to go into space. He was also the pilot on SpaceShipOne's flight 16P, the first competitive flight in the Ansari X Prize competition.
Flight 15P of SpaceShipOne (X0) was the first privately funded human spaceflight. It took place on June 21, 2004. It was the fourth powered test flight of the Tier One program, with the previous three test flights reaching much lower altitudes. The flight carried only its pilot, Mike Melvill, who thus became the first non-governmental astronaut.
The Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field is in Mojave, California, United States, at an elevation of 2,801 feet (854 m). It is the first facility to be licensed in the United States for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft, being certified as a spaceport by the Federal Aviation Administration on June 17, 2004. The facility covers 2,998 acres and has three runways.
Tier One was a Scaled Composites' 1990s–2004 program of suborbital human spaceflight using the reusable spacecraft SpaceShipOne and its launcher White Knight. The craft was designed by Burt Rutan, and the project was funded 20 million US Dollars by Paul Allen. In 2004 it made the first privately funded human spaceflight and won the 10 million US Dollars Ansari X Prize for the first non-governmental reusable crewed spacecraft.
Flight 11P of SpaceShipOne was its eighth independent flight, its first powered flight, and the first privately funded crewed flight to reach supersonic speeds. It occurred on December 17, 2003.
Flight 14P of SpaceShipOne was its third powered flight, which occurred on May 13, 2004. The pilot was Mike Melvill.
Flight 17P of SpaceShipOne was a spaceflight in the Tier One program that took place on October 4, 2004. It was the second competitive flight in the Ansari X Prize competition to demonstrate a non-governmental reusable crewed spacecraft, and is hence also referred to as the X2 flight. It was a successful flight, winning the X PRIZE.
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a British-American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group conglomerate which retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The company develops commercial spacecraft and provides suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft are air launched from beneath a carrier airplane known as White Knight Two. Virgin Galactic's maiden spaceflight occurred in 2018 with its VSS Unity spaceship. Branson had originally hoped to see a maiden spaceflight by 2010, but the date was delayed, primarily due to the October 2014 crash of VSS Enterprise.
The Scaled Composites Model 281 Proteus is a tandem-wing high-altitude long-endurance aircraft designed by Burt Rutan to investigate the use of aircraft as high-altitude telecommunications relays. The Proteus is a multi-mission vehicle able to carry various payloads on a ventral pylon. The Proteus has an extremely efficient design and can orbit a point at over 19,800 m for more than 18 hours. It is currently owned by Northrop Grumman.
The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) was an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It was manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic.
The Scaled Composites Model 348 White Knight Two (WK2) is a quadjet cargo aircraft that was used to lift the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) spacecraft to release altitude. It was developed by Scaled Composites from 2007 to 2010 as the first stage of Tier 1b, a two-stage to suborbital-space crewed launch system. WK2 is based on the successful mothership to SpaceShipOne, White Knight, which itself was based on Proteus.
Air-launch-to-orbit (ALTO) is the method of launching smaller rockets at altitude from a heavier conventional horizontal-takeoff aircraft, to carry satellites to low Earth orbit. It is a follow-on development of air launches of experimental aircraft that began in the late 1940s. This method, when employed for orbital payload insertion, presents significant advantages over conventional vertical rocket launches, particularly because of the reduced mass, thrust, cost of the rocket, geographical factors, and natural disasters.
VP-03 was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity which took place on 13 December 2018, piloted by Mark P. Stucky and co-piloted by Frederick W. "CJ" Sturckow.
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