The first private manned spacecraft will be launched into space on 21 June carrying an as yet unnamed astronaut. SpaceShipOne is built by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan who hopes to win the Ansari X-prize of $10m (£5.7m) for the first non-government flight into space.
The craft, sponsored by Microsoft's co-founder Paul Allen, has to reach an altitude of 100km (329,000ft) twice in two weeks to win the coveted award.
A total of 25 other teams across the world are competing for the prize.
But the SpaceShipOne testing programme shows the Californian design is clearly in the lead.
"Every time SpaceShipOne flies, we demonstrate that relatively modest amounts of private funding can significantly increase the boundaries of commercial space technology," Allen said in a statement.
More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3770919.stm
The craft, sponsored by Microsoft's co-founder Paul Allen, has to reach an altitude of 100km (329,000ft) twice in two weeks to win the coveted award.
A total of 25 other teams across the world are competing for the prize.
But the SpaceShipOne testing programme shows the Californian design is clearly in the lead.
"Every time SpaceShipOne flies, we demonstrate that relatively modest amounts of private funding can significantly increase the boundaries of commercial space technology," Allen said in a statement.
More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3770919.stm
