X Prize – Winners Herald a New Age

Duncan Graham-Rowe

October 2004

They did it. On Monday 4 October the homemade rocket, SpaceShipOne, safely soared to an altitude of 100 kilometres and back for the second time in five days. The two launches have earned the spacecraft's creators, US team Scaled Composites, $10 million as winners of the X Prize for successfully carrying out the first private venture into space. Pilot Brian Binnie was greeted with cheers and popping champagne corks as he glided the spacecraft to a safe landing on an airstrip in the Mojave Desert. Binnie later described the flight as a 'fantastic experience' and 'a dream come true'.

Winners of the prize were required to fly to an altitude of 100 kilometres (the edge of space) and back twice within two weeks using the same spacecraft. The competition was set up in 1996 by non-profit educational organisation the X Prize Foundation and was due to expire at the end of 2004, prompting a flurry of activity as several competitors raced to win it.

The X Prize was inspired by the Orteig Prize. Charles Lindbergh won that $25,000-contest in 1927 as the first person to fly solo and non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean. The aim of the X Prize, though, was to encourage cheap, private space exploration and kick-start a new industry devoted to space travel.

The winning formula

Instead of using a huge, ground-launched rocket, Scaled Composites took a different and cheaper approach to get into space. Binnie and Mike Melvill, pilot on the first of the two historic flights, were initially carried in the SpaceShipOne rocket up to an altitude of 15,000 metres by a purpose-built jet-powered plane called White Knight. SpaceShipOne's engine was then ignited a few seconds after being released by the plane, accelerating it to an exit velocity of nearly 5000kph and on into space, where it stayed for about three minutes.

After freefalling back in to Earth's atmosphere, SpaceShipOne's folded-back wings produce drag that slow the craft down until it freefalls to a point where the air is dense enough for the wings to be deployed. At this stage the rocket essentially becomes a glider.

During the first flight, on 29 September 2004, Melvill experienced a few 'unscripted manoeuvres'. After igniting the rocket's engine, the craft began to roll as it shot upwards. On seeing this from the ground, Burt Rutan, head of Scaled Composites and designer of SpaceShipOne, asked Melvill to cut short the planned 88-second engine burn. So Melvill let the engine burn until he was sure the rocket would reach its target altitude and then shut it off, 11 seconds ahead of schedule. By the time the rocket had stopped climbing it had rolled 29 times, giving Melvill a rough ride.

The cause of this behaviour is still unknown but Melvill said it was probably something he had done, like accidentally stepping on the rudder. Even so, Binnie took some extra practice sessions in the simulator before his launch five days later.

He needn't have bothered. The second launch was described as nearly flawless. In fact, not only did Binnie's flight seal the X Prize for his team, his actual height of 114 kilometres also broke the altitude record for a horizontally-launched rocket, previously set by Nasa's X-15 rocket in 1963 at 108 kilometres.

Rick Tumlinson, one of the founders of the X Prize Foundation, described the team's achievement as having 'blown the hinges off the doors to space' and heralding the beginning of a new space age.

New tourist destination

Scaled Composites has already signed a $21 million licensing deal with Virgin Group's Richard Branson; the company will trade under the name Virgin Galactic. Commercial space flights aren't expected before 2007. But despite the time-lag, 125 people have already bought their tickets for the first flights, says Virginia-based company Space Adventures, which has positioned itself effectively as the first space travel agent.

Having coughed up $105,000 for their seats, these wannabe astronauts will get to experience several minutes of weightlessness and see the darkness of space and the curvature of Earth.

But before these tourist trips happen, there are likely to be many more test flights to ensure space travel is safe, or, at least, as safe as it can be. Scaled Composites is now involved in discussions with Nasa and the Federal Aviation Administration about how this new industry can be regulated and safely run.

Unlike Nasa's Space Shuttle, which has to be almost entirely rebuilt after each mission, X Prize contenders were required to develop spacecraft that were at least 90% reusable. SpaceShipOne actually manages 97%, but now Scaled Composites have to show that such reuse does not come at the expense of performance and safety.

According to Rutan, if they are to achieve their goal of going commercial, they will have to make their spacecraft about 100 times safer than anything that currently exists.

Competitive market

Though they are the X Prize winners, Scaled Composites are not likely to have a monopoly on space tourism. Other teams that were beaten to the prize are continuing to develop their spacecraft with the aim of going commercial too.

Wishing to encourage this, the X Prize Foundation has announced a new contest – the X Prize Cup. Awards will be made annually from 2006 for achievements in different categories, like most frequent flights and highest altitude. The foundation has already raised $10 million in prize money for it.

According to the foundation, private space travel will not open up the stars just to rich tourists. Tumlinson believes that cheaper space-based science experiments and even extreme sport events, like skydiving out of a spacecraft, could be on the menu.

It's expected that if space tourism is to be cost effective, there will have to be a fairly high turnover of flights, comparable to the passenger airline industry, which is likely to take its toll on the rockets. Even so, in winning the X Prize, an achievement that many didn't believe likely, Scaled Composites have shown that it doesn't take billions of dollars to get into space.

Read more about the competition in X Prize – The Space Vacation Contest

Find out more

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Websites

X Prize
www.xprize.org
Official X Prize site that followed the competitors in the race.

British National Space Centre
www.bnsc.gov.uk
Information about Britain's development of space technology.

Destination Mars
www.channel4.com/science/microsites/M/mars/
Channel 4 site that tells the story of Mars exploration and shows how scientists are creating their own versions of Mars on Earth, so they can prepare the planet's first explorers. Check out the space game.

Fly Rockets
www.flyrockets.com/
An introduction to sport, amateur, model and high-powered rockets and rocketry.

Golden Palace.com Space Program
www.davinciproject.com/beta/
Powered by the Canadian da Vinci Project, this site has information on the pursuit of the X Prize.

Mike Melvill – In the News
http://mike-melvill.wikiverse.org/
This site has information and links to interviews and articles on the first commercial astronaut – Mike Melvill.

Rocketry Online
www.rocketryonline.com
Gives up-to-date information about model, high-powered and amateur rocketry with discussion forums and a chat room.

Russian Space Web – Mir
www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html
Current news about the Russian space program and a history of astronautics in the former Soviet Union, with excellent images of the Mir Space Station.

Space Telescope Science Institute
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/
Pictures from the Hubble telescope and a news centre.

Space
www.space.com
The definitive space website which offers compelling content, featuring news, information, technology, science, business, entertainment and an education channel. The site followed the X Prize and has lots of images of SpaceShipOne.

Space Adventures
www.spaceadventures.com
US-based space travel company that brokered the deal with millionaire Dennis Tito. It offers membership to a club that provides members with the tools, experience and training needed to achieve spaceflight.

Test Pilot – Scaled Composites
www.astronautix.com/astrogrp/tessites.htm
Biographies of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the first private, manned spacecraft, manufactured by Scaled Composites.

The United Kingdom Rocketry Association
www.ukra.org.uk
National organisation that represents model, high-powered and amateur rocketry enthusiasts.

Books

	Entering Space: Creating a space-faring civilisation by Robert Zubrin (Tarcher, 2000) Looking at the future of space travel, this explores the true potential of human travel and settlement on the outer planets. Get this book
	E Explore Space Travel (Dorling Kindersley, 2004) Blast through space on the tail of a comet or follow Mars Rover as it explores the red planet. All the Internet sites have been specially selected, giving you the latest exciting information on space travel. Perfect for projects or just for fun. Aimed at kids. Get this book
	Making Space Happen: Private space ventures and the visionaries behind them by Paula Berinstein (Independent Publishers Group, 2002) From entrepreneurs planning to turn mass space travel into a money-making opportunity to a science fiction author arguing against the privatisation of space, 22 people are interviewed by space industry observer Berinstein. Get this book
	The Race by James Schefter (Arrow, 2000) Close-up coverage of the Cold War space race between the Americans and the Soviets. Gives a full account from the end of the Second World War to the first man on the moon. Get this book
	Rockets Into Space by Frank Winter (Harvard University Press, 1993) Discusses the technological breakthroughs of the evolution of rocket propulsion and vehicle design over the last 30 years. Get this book
	Space: An illustrated history of space exploration in photographs by Andrew Chaikin (Carlton Books, 2002) Among the events captured are the momentous flight of Yuri Gagarin, the early Mercury spaceflights, the historic Apollo 11 mission, and the long lifetime of the Russian Mir Space station, as well as stunning photographs taken by satellite craft such as the Hubble Space Telescope, There is also a foreword by Jim Lovell, astronaut on Apollo 8 and Apollo 13. Get this book
	Space Tourism: Do you want to go? by John Spencer (Apogee Books, 2004) Space architect Spencer looks at the space tourism industry; an industry destined to be large, prestigious and profitable. Get this book

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