SpaceShipOne Breaks the Sound Barrier

Scaled Composite Press Release ^ | December 17th, 2003

[Frank_Discussion]

SpaceShipOne Breaks the Sound Barrier

Today, a significant milestone was achieved by Scaled Composites: The first manned supersonic flight by an aircraft developed by a small company's private, non-government effort.

In 1947, fifty-six years ago, history's first supersonic flight was flown by Chuck Yeager in the Bell X-1 rocket under a U.S. Government research program. Since then, many supersonic aircraft have been developed for research, military and, in the case of the recently retired Concorde, commercial applications. All these efforts were developed by large aerospace prime companies, using extensive government resources.

Our flight this morning by SpaceShipOne demonstrated that supersonic flight is now the domain of a small company doing privately-funded research, without government help. The flight also represents an important milestone in our efforts to demonstrate that truly low-cost space access is feasible.

Our White Knight turbojet launch aircraft, flown by Test Pilot Peter Siebold, carried research rocket plane SpaceShipOne to 48,000 feet altitude, near the desert town of California City. At 8:15 a.m. PDT, Cory Bird, the White Knight Flight Engineer, pulled a handle to release SpaceShipOne. SpaceShipOne Test Pilot, Brian Binnie then flew the ship to a stable, 0.55 mach gliding flight condition, started a pull-up, and fired its hybrid rocket motor. Nine seconds later, SpaceShipOne broke the sound barrier and continued its steep powered ascent. The climb was very aggressive, accelerating forward at more than 3-g while pulling upward at more than 2.5-g. At motor shutdown, 15 seconds after ignition, SpaceShipOne was climbing at a 60-degree angle and flying near 1.2 Mach (930 mph). Brian then continued the maneuver to a vertical climb, achieving zero speed at an altitude of 68,000 feet. He then configured the ship in its high-drag "feathered" shape to simulate the condition it will experience when it enters the atmosphere after a space flight. At apogee, SpaceShipOne was in near-weightless conditions, emulating the characteristics it will later encounter during the planned space flights in which it will be at zero-g for more than three minutes. After descending in feathered flight for about a minute, Brian reconfigured the ship to its conventional glider shape and flew a 12-minute glide to landing at Scaled's home airport of Mojave. The landing was not without incident as the left landing gear retracted at touchdown causing the ship to veer to the left and leave the runway with its left wing down. Damage from the landing incident was minor and will easily be repaired. There were no injuries.

The milestone of private supersonic flight was not an easy task. It involved the development of a new propulsion system, the first rocket motor developed for manned space flights in several decades. The new hybrid motor was developed in-house at Scaled with first firings in November 2002. The motor uses an ablative nozzle supplied by AAE and operating components supplied by SpaceDev. FunTech teamed with Scaled to develop a new Inertial Navigation flight director. The first flight of the White Knight launch aircraft was in August 2002 and SpaceShipOne began its glide tests in August 2003.

Scaled does not pre-announce the specific flight test plans for its manned space program, however completed accomplishments are updated as they happen at our website: http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/index.htm. The website also provides downloadable photos and technical descriptions of the rocket motor system and motor test hardware.

Scaled Composites, LLC, is an aerospace research company located on the Mojave Airport: 1624 Flight Line, Mojave California 93501 Voice (661) 824-4541 Fax (661) 824-4174 Email: info@scaled.com

[Frank_Discussion]

Major, you are welcome.

About space elevators: I'm not a big fan of them, as they seem like a lot of work for little benefit, though I don't pooh-pooh them entirely. You talk of solar power, when it may be actually easier to use the dynamo effect of the wire in the earth's magnetic field. Orbiting tethers in space would do this better, but the technique could give the elevators another utility to capitalize on.

[Frank_Discussion]

Incremental development will make a SS2 and SS3 and SS4 and... SSX will get to orbit, or farther.

It'll get there.

Meanwhile, the thrill seekers will turn the money crank.

[Major_Risktaker]

As a kid I really thought spaces stations would
be build like the one in the picture below.

Well this is it!
The International Space Station.

Looks like a UHF antenna to me.

I'm very disappointed...

[Frank_Discussion]

"NASA's been developing Hybrid rockets for a long time..."

No, they haven't, they tinkered with it, then shelved it. Development is meant for eventual implementation, and NASA has not, and is not, going there with hybrids. Unless competition with the private sector is the goal.

And that is the point you are missing: NASA has a seriously difficult time with following through. This is partly the "culture" and partly having Congress yank the rug out every 4 to 8 years.

I want NASA to have a big mission, I really do. But if the private companies can work there way up to servicing the station or going farther, that would be ideal. Let the small fry determine and do what's possible, to help NASA do the seemingly impossible.

You have an attitude problem about this issue, and you keep getting more and more agitated as the posts roll by. Chill.

[My2Cents]

Absolutely outstanding!

[My2Cents]

Good knowledge!

[My2Cents]

What a fantastic photo.

[Final Authority]

I would be interested if there was any links, either direct or otherwise, between the work at Scaled Composites and the personnel at Huntsville in the '60s. I remember that German engineers and scientists advocated a different scheme, much like the concept that Scaled Composites is pursuing, than the Space Shuttle that was funded and been a drain on the budget of the space program ever since. German scientists put us on the moon and when they retired and/or were run out of the country or died the space program took a turn for the worst. Thank you Burt Rutan.

[greenwolf]

A few years ago I was reading that Dick Rutan and others were close to the goal of inexpensive small jet engines. Anybody know what might have become of that one?

The goal was to make a small jet cost $200,000 instead of two million. When you look at a small plane being manufactured today, every part other than one is modern technology but that one part, the engine which is 1940s technology, is the most crucial part.

Aside from speed, jet engines are vastly more reliable than piston engines and hence much safer. The trick has always been to produce them, particularly small ones, affordably.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I thought so too!

[RightWhale]

any links, either direct or otherwise

Would a link be a surprise? No? Didn't think it would be. But they aren't all German scientists. Goddard was American, and just because the NYT advised him that his rockets wouldn't work in the vacuum of space did he stop?

[Moonman62]

Wow!

[mvpel]

What do they mean by "feathered" vs "gliding" configuration?

[HamiltonJay]

Frank,

I have no issue with private companies doing anything.. my beef isn't with that at all... I get sick and tired of the set of people who are trying to turn this accomplishment, which is indeed nice, and neat, into a political point because some incorrect dogma tells them so.

It is perfectly correct that private enterprise should be the ones trying to build space planes for tourists... for crying out lout there is no reason for this to be a national or even international undertaking. My beef is when these people just bash the underlying efforts that have allowed these private companies to create what they have created in such a brief period of time and for the costs they have.

When previous Nasa and military programs have already solved the big problems, it is certainly correct and expected that the next ones out there will be able to replicate it cheaper or faster.

Just like the your claim a few about hybrid engines.. it is correct that they got scrapped, but NASA did the underlying work and has had various models operational... so this SS1 while is neat did not start with a clean slate.

Its one thing to say KUDOS to private enterprise for working to make space accessible to more average people... its a wholey other to then make the ludicrous claim that this accomplishment enforces the notion of private enterprise can replace government programs particularly in the areas of research and development and space exploration etc.

You are correct, let the small fries do what they can do, and from what I can see, I reall don't see Nasa or the military or anyone else saying don't... Nasa sure isn't planning any sub orbital passenger vehicles... nor should it. Just don't try to claim that the private industries move to build them doesn't get a HUGE boost from all the stuff that came before... because that's just ideaological nonsense.

[Analyzing Inconsistencies]

>>>Forget the space shuttle, private industry will take over.<<<

Yeah, but Boeing and Lockheed want NASA to give them over ten billion tax dollars to build some Orbital Spaceplane first.

[mvpel]

Nevermind, found the post that explains it.

[Moonman62]

I've been wanting to make a post like yours, but was too lazy to do it. I agree that the space station from 2001 is good looking, and that the ISS is butt ugly -- it looks like a $100 billion mutated dragonfly, or a trailer park antenna.

The Air Force and Navy brass are smart. They buy good looking jets and feature them in movies and air shows.

[My2Cents]

SpaceShipOne in feathered flight --

White Knight and SpaceShipOne --

[RoughDobermann]

I've not seen of a new private jet anywhere near $200K, but you will soon be able to pick up one for around $1M.

Diamond D-Jet, approx. $900K

Eclipse 500, approx. $990K

[Moonman62]

Reducing the cost of space access is already well underway, and its called the Space Elevator project,...

I hope you're not talking about a project that was the subject of a post here on FR about a year or so ago. That was clearly a scam designed to separate people from their money. They even stole some of the plot out of Clarke's "Fountains of Paradise."