A privately funded rocket plane took the first step toward the wide-scale exploitation of space for tourism yesterday, taking off with a brilliant engine flash and landing flawlessly in California's Mojave desert.
In a flight its pilot described as "almost a religious experience," SpaceShipOne detached from its escort aircraft and soared to a height of 100 kilometres above the Earth before plunging back into the atmosphere and touching down.
The 31/2-minute sojourn in space, the first by a privately financed piloted vehicle, was aimed at launching a space tourism trade that some suggest could reach $100-billion (U.S.) by the end of the decade.
It gave SpaceShipOne's backers, including Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who reportedly invested $20-million (U.S.), a leg up on 25 competitors, two in Canada, to win the $10-million Ansari X Prize.
The White Knight aircraft carries SpaceShipOne and pilot Michael Melvill, who gives a thumbs-up signal, as he prepares to go aloft for a trip to suborbital space at Mojave, Calif., on Monday. SpaceShipOne is a privately developed rocket plane that, by completing its mission, became the world's first commercial manned space vehicle and the first non-governmental flight to leave Earth's atmosphere. (Reed Saxon/AP)
Internet Links
The award, established in 1996 to encourage private space flight, is modelled on the $25,000 prize that inspired Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927.
To win the space prize, a three-person plane built without government sponsorship must fly to a height of 100 kilometres, land safely, then do it again two weeks later.
The repeat requirement is designed to force competitors to show that unlike the U.S. space shuttle, flights can take place on a frequent and predictable basis.
As such, yesterday's successful flight was only a half step toward winning the prize. South-Africa-born pilot Mike Melvill was the only one aboard the plane; the team will have to add two passengers to the flight and then repeat it in order to win.
Nevertheless, yesterday's success inspired rapture from Mr. Melvill. "The Earth is so beautiful," he said.
The plane he flew was built by innovative aircraft designer Burt Rutan, who himself achieved international fame in 1986 for creating a plane that flew around the world without refuelling. Its performance brought praise from the leader of a Canadian group seen as one of its strongest competitors.
"They say that when a tide comes in it lifts all boats, big and small, to the same height," said Geoff Sherrin, leader of the London-Ontario based Canadian Arrow group, which has invested between $5-million and $6-million (Canadian) in the scheme.
". . . The best thing that could happen for us is if customers start banging on Burt's door with cash in their hands. I mean, that is going to make Bay Street and Wall Street wake up and take a look at this," he said.
As opposed to the drop-and-soar model employed to put SpaceShipOne into space, the Canadian Arrow uses a two-stage suborbital rocket to get off the ground. Mr. Sherrin's company hopes to launch a pilotless version in September and have astronauts flying before the end of the year.
Depending on the market for space travel, he says, passengers could be aloft as early as 2005.
Mr. Sherrin said the X Prize is less important than getting people thinking about tourist flights into space, where the most obvious appeal to thrill-seekers would be about 15 minutes of weightlessness.
"I wish Burt had done this six months ago," he said. "People used to show up at meetings I was at to see if I had tinfoil on my head. That is now gone. Suborbital space flight is open."
The da Vinci Project, another Canadian entry, has been experimenting with a combination of a rocket and helium-filled balloon, which it hopes will save fuel costs and cut down the risk of a catastrophic accident.
Two space tourists spent $20-million (U.S.) each to fly on a Russian space shuttle in 2001 and 2002, but the projected cost for a suborbital flight is just $100,000.
In a 2002 survey of 450 Americans with incomes above $250,000, 85 people said they would be willing to spend $100,000 on such a flight.
Marc Garneau, head of the Canadian Space Agency, has warned that early crashes could quickly take the glow off space tourism.
But risk is part of the attraction, University of Toronto business professor Joseph D'Cruz said.
"The affluent risk-seekers of the world are aware that this is a risky enterprise and are still willing to pay for it," he said.
