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Private rocket creates record

LONDON, MAY 15. A rocket funded by a billionaire has taken a solo pilot to the edge of space.

Burt Rutan, an aircraft designer, and his firm Scaled Composites took a giant leap towards becoming the first private company to send a person into space when the rocket soared to an altitude of 60 km. The rocket is a contender for the $10-million Ansari X Prize, which will go to the first successful private effort to launch a manned craft to an altitude of 100 km twice within a period of two weeks. There are high hopes that SpaceShipOne may achieve the feat within a month or two.

On Thursday, SpaceShipOne, piloted by Mike Melvill, was carried aloft by a plane, White Knight, and released at an altitude of 46,000 ft. The rocket's motor ignited 10 seconds later and boosted the craft to 150,000 ft and Mach 2.5. The vehicle then coasted to 211,400 ft above California's Mojave Desert, within striking distance of the X Prize altitude of 329,000 ft.

"There was tremendous acceleration. We went very, very fast, and I went straight up'' for two minutes, said 62-year-old Mr Melvill, who was able to float weightlessly during part of the flight.

When SpaceShipOne glided back to Mojave airport, touched down and rolled to a stop, Mr Melvill was greeted by about 75 people, mostly employees of Scaled Composites and their families. "I feel great. It was fabulous. I would pay a million dollars to do that again,'' he said.

Telegraph Group Limited, London 2004

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