SpaceShipOne is the first non-government funded “spaceship” to make it into space. Although SpaceShipOne didn’t technical y make it into an Earth orbit, they did however make a sub-orbital space flight. (100 km, the officially designated, edge of space, also known as the Karman Line). To win the X-prize, SpaceShipOne had to make two flights in excess of 328,000 feet (100 km) within a 14-day span (or two weeks). This is because the goal was to make an affordable sub-orbital spacecraft.

To win the X-prize, not only did SpaceShipOne need to make 2 flights within a 14 day span, but it also had to carry three people, or a ballast equal to that of three people. SpaceShipOne choose to take on a ballast of three people so as to not put anyone’s life at risk that didn’t need to be put at risk.

And in addition to being the first private manned space program, they also broke the unofficial world altitude record set by Joseph A. Walker on August 22, 1963 (354,200 feet). He was flying the X-15, a Military funded craft. Brian Binnie, SpaceShipOne’s pilot, flew to approximately 367, 442 feet (or 69.6 miles) above the Earth’s surface. He shattered the record by approximately 13242 feet.

Even the registry number of SpaceShipOne is special. SpaceShipOne is registered with the FFA as N328KF. The ‘N’ is the prefix for US-registered aircraft. ‘328KF’ stands for 328 thousand (K - used a representative for thousand) feet, (approx. 100km, the official edge of space). A glider was already registered with the original choice for the registry number, N100KM.

The first flight was on May 20th, 2003. Following flights were glide flight tests, which started on April 7th, 2003. The first powered flight was on December 17th 2003, the 100th anniversary of the first ever powered flight by the Wright Brothers. All of the flights were made at the Mojave Airport Civilian Flight Test Center.On June 17 2004, Mojave Airport temporarily changed to, Mojave Spaceport Civilian Aerospace Test Center.

A safe means for rocket propulsion was needed to power SpaceShipOne if it’s going to be used for civilian travel to space. So a hybrid propulsion system that uses Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas) and HTPB (tire rubber) was chosen for availability, and relative safety. A solid or liquid rocket motor may have a higher performance then a hybrid motor, but it can explode, unlike a hybrid rocket motor. Furthermore, for a Sub-Orbital flight, a hybrid rocket motor is quite adequate to achieve the desired altitude. The makers of the Hybrid rocket motor are SpaceDev.