SpaceShipOne

SpaceShipOne, the Scaled Composites Model 316, was an air-launched, rocket-powered experimental spaceplane designed by Burt Rutan for suborbital flight. It was carried aloft beneath the White Knight carrier aircraft, released, and then boosted by a hybrid rocket motor. Its distinctive feathering system folded the rear wing and twin tail booms upward to raise drag and give a stable, hands-off re-entry. It made the first privately funded human spaceflight on 21 June 2004 and won the ten million dollar Ansari X Prize with two further flights in September and October 2004. Both craft were built by Scaled Composites for Mojave Aerospace Ventures, a joint venture with Paul Allen, who supplied about 25 million dollars. SpaceShipOne was then retired and now hangs in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington.