10 years ago the first flight of a private spaceship

June 21, 2004 private spacecraft (funded by Paul Allen) made its first successful flight into space. SpaceShipOne properly be called suborbital aircraft, as in deep space, so to speak, he did not leave.

But the fact remains - exactly 10 years ago has been given a boost to the industry as a private space tourism. By the way, for the successful flight of SpaceShipOne creators received $ 10 million from the Ansari X PRIZE.

Now in this area involved several players, the most famous of which is Richard Branson and his SpaceShipTwo. Earlier this month, the company Virgin Galactic has received permission to "space carting" of an organization such as the Federal Aviation Administration.

State agreement stipulates the need for ongoing work with Virgin Galactic NAS (National Airspace System). In addition, security measures stipulated launch spacecraft from the Baikonur Spaceport America. Last Virgin Galactic is insured for 20 years.

In addition, Virgin Galactic is going to compete a few more companies to launch its own space tourism projects.

But it is a start launching SpaceShipOne.

Via New Space Journal


Source: habrahabr.ru/post/227177/