A reusable launch system (or RLV: reusable launch vehicle) is a launch vehicle which is capable of launching into space more than once. This is in opposition to an expendable launch system, where each launch vehicle is launched once and then discarded. An expendable launch system is a single-use launch vehicle usually used to launch a payload into space. ...

No true orbital reusable launch system is in use as of August, 2005. The closest example is the Space Shuttle. The orbiter which includes the main engines, and the two solid rocket boosters, are reused after several months of refitting work for each launch. The external fuel drop tank is discarded. An orbital spaceflight (or orbital flight) in the general sense is a spaceflight where the trajectory of a spacecraft reaches the height of, and through having an appropriate velocity enters into, orbit around an astronomical body. ... The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ... The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) is the rocket that provides most of the thrust required to launch the Space Shuttle into Low Earth orbit. ... The Space Shuttle External Tank (ET) on its way to the Vehicle Assembly Building. ...

Orbital RLVs are thought to provide the possibility of low cost and highly reliable access to space. However, given the lack of experience with these vehicles, the actual costs and reliability are yet to be seen.

History

Destination Moon (film)

As usual, science fiction preceded science fact in this area. In the early 1950s popular science fiction often depicted space launch vehicles as either single-stage reusable rocketships which could launch and land vertically (SSTO VTVL), or single-stage reusable rocketplanes which could launch and land horizontally (SSTO HTHL). DVD cover scan from the movie Destination Moon, personal scan, claiming fair use (does not detract from original work, scanned from legal copy, image is of sufficiently low resolution). ... DVD cover scan from the movie Destination Moon, personal scan, claiming fair use (does not detract from original work, scanned from legal copy, image is of sufficiently low resolution). ... Categories: Movie stubs | 1950 films | Science fiction films ... // Events and No. ... Categories: Movie stubs | 1950 films | Science fiction films ... A single-stage to orbit (or SSTO) launcher describes an as-yet theoretical class of spacecraft designed to place a load into orbit as a self-contained vehicle without the use of multiple stages. ...

The realities of early engine technology with low specific impulse or insufficient thrust-to-weight ratio to escape our gravity well, compounded by construction materials without adequate performance (strength, stiffness, heat resistance) and low weight seemingly rendered that original single-stage reusable vehicle vision impossible. The specific impulse (commonly abbreviated Isp) of a propulsion system is the impulse (change in momentum) per unit of propellant. ... Thrust-to-weight ratio (where weight means weight at the Earths surface) is a dimensionless parameter characteristic of rocket and jet engines, and of vehicles propelled by such engines (typically space launch vehicles and jet aircraft). ... A gravity well is the scientific/science fictional term for the distortion in space-time caused by a massive body such as a planet. ... It has been suggested that Tensile strength be merged into this article or section. ... Stiffness is the resistance of an elastic body to deflection by an applied force. ...

However some thought the problems could be surpassed.

Before VTVL SSTO designs came the partially reusable multi-stage NEXUS launcher by Krafft Ehricke. The pioneer in the field of VTVL SSTO, Philip Bono, worked at Douglas. Bono proposed several launch vehicles including: ROOST, ROMBUS, Ithacus, Pegasus and SASSTO. Most of his vehicles combined similar innovations to achieve SSTO capability. Bono proposed: NEXUS launch vehicle. ... Deceased (1993?). Was a Douglas Aircraft Company engineer. ... The Douglas Aircraft Company was founded by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. ...

• Plug nozzle engines to retain high specific impulse at all altitudes.
• Base first reentry which allowed the reuse of the engine as a heat shield, lowering required heat shield mass.
• Use of spherical tanks and stubby shape to reduce vehicle structural mass further.
• Use of drop tanks to increase range.
• Use of in-orbit refueling to increase range.

Bono also proposed the use of his vehicles for space launch, rapid intercontinental military transport (Ithacus), rapid intercontinental civilian transport (Pegasus), even Moon and Mars missions (Project Selena, Project Deimos). The plug nozzle is a type of rocket nozzle that, unlike traditional designs, maintains its efficiency at a wide range of altitudes. ... For other uses, see sphere (disambiguation). ...

In Europe, Dietrich Koelle, inspired by Bono's SASSTO design, proposed his own VTVL vehicle named BETA.

Before HTHL SSTO designs came Eugen Sänger and his Silbervogel ("Silverbird") suborbital skip bomber. HTHL vehicles which can reach orbital velocity are harder to design than VTVL due to their higher vehicle structural weight. This led to several multi-stage prototypes such as an suborbital X-15. Aerospaceplane being one of the first HTHL SSTO concepts. Proposals have been made to make such a vehicle more viable including: Eugen Sänger (September 22, 1905 - February 10, 1964) was an Austrian aerospace engineer best known for his contributions to lifting body and ramjet technology. ... Silverbird is also the name of a Telecomsoft software label. ... A sub-orbital spaceflight (or sub-orbital flight) is a spaceflight that does not involve putting a vehicle into orbit. ... The orbital speed of a body, generally a planet, a natural satellite, an artificial satellite, or a multiple star, is the speed at which it orbits around the barycenter of a system, usually around a more massive body. ... A sub-orbital spaceflight (or sub-orbital flight) is a spaceflight that does not involve putting a vehicle into orbit. ... Description Role: Research Aircraft Crew: one, pilot Dimensions Length: 50. ...

• Rail boost.
• Use of lifting body designs to reduce vehicle structural mass.
• Use of in-flight refueling.

Other launch system configuration designs are possible such as horizontal launch with vertical landing (HTVL) and vertical launch with horizontal landing (VTHL). One of the few HTVL designs made is Hyperion by Philip Bono. X-20 Dyna-Soar is one example of an early VTHL design. The lifting body is an aircraft configuration where the body itself produces lift. ... Artists conception of the X-20 during re-entry The X-20 Dyna-Soar (Dynamic Soarer) was a USAF program to develop a spaceplane that could be used for a variety of military missions, including reconnaissance, bombing, space rescue, satellite maintenance, and sabotage of enemy satellites. ...

The late 1960s saw the start of the Space Shuttle design process. From an initial multitude of ideas a two-stage reusable VTHL design was pushed forward. That eventually ended up as a reusable orbiter with an expendable drop tank and reusable solid rocket boosters to reduce design expenses. The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ... The Space Shuttle Columbia is initially launched with the help of solid-fuel boosters Solid rockets are rockets with a motor that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). ...

During the 1970s further VTVL and HTHL SSTO designs were proposed for solar power satellite and military applications. There was a VTVL SSTO study by Boeing. HTHL SSTO designs included the Rockwell Star-Raker and the Boeing HTHL SSTO study. However the focus of all space launch funding in the United States on the Shuttle killed off these prospects. The Soviet Union followed suit with Buran. Others preferred expendables for their lower design risk, and lower design cost. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... A solar power satellite, or SPS, is a proposed satellite built in high Earth orbit that uses microwave power transmission to beam solar power to a very large antenna on Earth where it can be used in place of conventional power sources. ... The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA)(TYO: 7661 ) is the worlds largest aircraft and aerospace manufacturer, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with its largest production facilities in Everett, Washington, about 30 miles north of Seattle, Washington. ... Rockwell can refer to: Rockwell International - a defense company in the United States Rockwell Automation - an industrial automation company that descended from Rockwell International Rockwell Collins - a communications and aviation electronics company that also descended from Rockwell International Willard Rockwell - businessman who helped shape and name what became Rockwell International... Illustration of the Buran Shuttle on an Energiya booster rocket Buran_Energia on the launch pad at Baikonur Buran_Energia on the pad Buran on liftoff Buran on touchdown Buran piggybacked on an An-225 carrier The Soviet reusable spacecraft program Buran (Бура́н meaning snowstorm or blizzard in Russian) began in 1976...

Eventually the Shuttle was found to be expensive to maintain, even more expensive than an expendable launch system would have been. The cancelation of a Shuttle-Centaur rocket after the loss of Challenger also caused an hiatus that would make it necessary for the United States military to scramble back towards expendables to launch their payloads. Many commercial satellite customers had switched to expendables even before that, due to unresponsiveness to customer concerns by the Shuttle launch system. The Centaur is an upper stage rocket designed for use on satellite launch vehicles, boosting the satellite into its final orbit or, in the case of interplanetary probes, to escape velocity. ... The Challenger breaks apart 73 seconds into its final mission, STS-51-L. Space Shuttle Challenger (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-099) was NASAs second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, after Columbia. ...

Then the Soviet Union imploded and the cost of Buran became untenable. Russia has only used pure expendables for space launch since.

The 1990s saw interest in developing new reusable vehicles. The military Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars") program "Brilliant Pebbles" required low cost, rapid turnaround space launch. From this requirement came the McDonnell Douglas Delta Clipper VTVL SSTO proposal. The DC-X prototype for Delta Clipper demonstrated rapid turnaround time and that automatic computer control of such a vehicle was possible. It also demonstrated it was possible to make a reusable space launch vehicle which did not require a large standing army to maintain like Shuttle. From the commercial side, large satellite constellations such as Iridium were proposed which also had low cost space access demands. This fueled a private launch industry, including partially reusable vehicle players, such as Kistler, and reusable vehicle players such as Rotary Rocket. The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. ... The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), commonly called Star Wars after the popular science fiction movies, was a system proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983[1] to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. ... DC-10, retired from American Airlines fleet at gate McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. ... The Delta Clipper Advanced The McDonnell Douglas DC-X, better known as the Delta Clipper, was an unmanned prototype of a reusable single stage to orbit launch vehicle developed in conjunction with NASA and the DOD SDIO from 1991 to 1993. ... The Delta Clipper Advanced The McDonnell Douglas DC-X, better known as the Delta Clipper, was an unmanned prototype of a reusable single stage to orbit launch vehicle developed in conjunction with NASA and the DOD SDIO from 1991 to 1993. ... A group of electronic satellites working in concert is known as a satellite constellation. ... The Iridium satellite constellation is a system of 66 active communication satellites and spares around the Earth. ... The Roton test vehicle at the Mojave Airport. ...

The end of that decade saw the implosion of the satellite constellation market with the bankruptcy of Iridium. In turn the nascent private launch industry collapsed. The fall of the Soviet Union eventually had political ripples which led to a scaling down of ballistic missile defense, including the demise of the "Brilliant Pebbles" program. The military decided to replace their aging expendable launcher workhorses, evolved from ballistic missile technology, with the EELV program. NASA proposed riskier reusable concepts to replace Shuttle, to be demonstrated under the X-33 and X-34 programs. The United States government–sponsored Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program was intended to develop affordable alternatives to legacy medium-to-heavy-lift launch vehicles (e. ... The X-33 was a technology demonstrator for NASAs next-generation of space launch vehicle. ... The Orbital Sciences X-34 was intended as a low-cost testbed to demonstrate key technologies integratable to the Reusable Launch Vehicle program. ...

The 21st century saw rising costs and teething problems lead to the cancelation of both X-33 and X-34. Then the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and another grounding of the fleet. The Shuttle design was now over 20 years old and in need of replacement. Meanwhile the military EELV program churned out a new generation of better expendables. The commercial satellite market is depressed due to a glut of cheap expendable rockets and there is a dearth of satellite payloads. The 21st century is the century that began on 1 January 2001 and will last to 31 December 2100. ... Shuttle debris falling over Texas, on Time cover The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was the disintegration of the Space Shuttle Columbia over Texas on February 1, 2003, during reentry into the Earths atmosphere on its 28th mission, STS-107. ...

Against this dire backdrop came the Ansari X Prize contest, inspired by the aviation contests made in the early 20th century. Many private competitors disputed the Ansari X Prize, the winner being Scaled Composites with their reusable HTHL SpaceShipOne. It won the ten million dollars, by reaching 100 kilometers in altitude twice in a two week period with the equivalent of three people on board, with no more than ten percent of the non-fuel weight of the spacecraft replaced between flights. While SpaceShipOne is suborbital like the X-15, some hope the private sector can eventually develop reusable orbital vehicles given enough incentive. SpaceX is a recent player in the private launch market which has partially reusable vehicles. The X prize logo shows a stylised letter X representing a spacecraft trajectory and containing a starfield. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Scaled Composites (often abbreviated as Scaled) was founded in 1982 in Mojave, California by famous aircraft designer Burt Rutan out of what used to be the Rutan Aircraft Factory. ... SpaceShipOne is small, having a three-person cabin and short but wide wings. ... A sub-orbital spaceflight (or sub-orbital flight) is a spaceflight that does not involve putting a vehicle into orbit. ... The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) is an El Segundo, California space transportation startup company whose stated goal is to improve the cost and reliability of access to space ultimately by a factor of ten. SpaceX is developing a family of mostly reusable two stage, kerosene/liquid oxygen launch vehicles. ...

Reusability concepts

Single Stage

Single stage to orbit requires very lightweight structures, high efficiency engines and usually implies small margins. A single-stage to orbit (or SSTO) launcher describes an as-yet theoretical class of spacecraft designed to place a load into orbit as a self-contained vehicle without the use of multiple stages. ...

Two or more stages to orbit

Two stage to orbit requires designing and building two independent vehicles and dealing with the interactions between them at launch. Usually the second stage in launch vehicle is 5-10 times smaller than the first stage, although in bimese and trimese approaches each vehicle is the same size. A two stage to orbit (or TSTO) launch vehicle is a spacecraft in which two distinct stages provide propulsion consecutively in order to achieve orbital velocity. ...

In addition, the first stage needs to be returned to the launch site for it to be reused. This is usually proposed to be done by flying a compromise trajectory that keeps the first stage above or close to the launch site at all times, or by using small airbreathing engines to fly the vehicle back, or by recovering the first stage downrange and returning it some other way (often landing in the Sea, and returning it by ship.) Most techniques involve some performance penalty; these can require the first stage to be several times larger for the same payload, although for recovery from downrange these penalties may be small.

The second stage is normally returned after flying one or more orbits and reentering.

Horizontal landing

In this case the vehicle requires wings and undercarriage (unless landing at sea). This typically requires about 9-12% of the vehicle to be wings.

Vertical landing

In this approach rockets are typically used to softland the vehicle on the ground from the subsonic speeds reached at low altitude. This typically requires about 10% of the landing weight of the vehicle to be propellant.

A slightly different approach to vertical landing is to use an autogyro or helicopter rotor. This requires perhaps 2-3% of the landing weight for the rotor. An autogyro (only an autogiro when produced by the Cierva Autogiro Company or one of its licensees (see below), sometimes called a gyroplane, gyrocopter, or rotaplane) is an aircraft supported in flight by a rotor driven solely by aerodynamic forces. ... The Bell 206 of Canadian Helicopters Robinson Helicopter Company (USA) R44, a four seat development of the R22 A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors (propellers). ...

Horizontal takeoff

The vehicle needs wings to takeoff. For reaching orbit, a 'wet wing' would often need to be used where the wing contains propellant. Around 9-12% of the vehicle takeoff weight is perhaps tied up in the wings.

Vertical takeoff

This is the traditional takeoff regime for pure rocket vehicles. Rockets are good for this regime, since they have a very high thrust/weight ratio (~100).

Airbreathing

Airbreathing approaches use the air for propulsion during ascent. The most commonly proposed approach is the scramjet, but turborocket, Liquid Air Cycle Engine (LACE) and precooled engines are also used. A scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) is a variation of a ramjet where the flow of the air and combustion of the fuel air mixture through the engine is done at supersonic speeds. ... A turborocket is a type of aircraft engine combining elements of a jet engine and a rocket. ... SABRE (Synergic Air BReathing Engine) is a proposal for a hydrogen-fuelled air breathing rocket engine/jet engine for propelling the Skylon launch vehicle into low earth orbit. ...

In all cases the highest speed that airbreathing can reach is far short of orbital speed (about mach 15 for Scramjets and mach 5-6 for the other engine designs) and rockets would be used for the remaining 10-20 mach for orbit.

The thermal situation for airbreathers (particularly scramjets) can be awkward; normal rockets fly steep initial trajectories to avoid drag, whereas scramjets would deliberately fly through relatively thick atmosphere at high speed generating enormous heating of the airframe. The thermal situation for the other airbreathing approaches is much more benign, although is not without its challenges.

Hydrogen fuel

Hydrogen is often proposed since it has the highest exhaust velocity. However tankage and pump weights are high due to insulation and low propellant density; and this wipes out much of the advantage.

Still, the 'wet mass' of a hydrogen fuelled stage is lighter than an equivalent dense stage with the same payload and this can permit usage of wings, and is good for second stages.

Dense fuel

Dense fuel is sometimes proposed since, although it implies a heavier vehicle, the specific tankage and pump mass is much improved over hydrogen. Dense fuel is usually suggested for vertical takeoff vehicles, and is compatible with horizontal landing vehicles, since the vehicle is lighter than an equivalent hydrogen vehicle when empty of propellant.

Tripropellant

Dense fuel is optimal early on in a flight, since the thrust to weight of the engines is better due to higher density; this means the vehicle acclerates more quickly and reaches orbit sooner, reducing gravity losses.

However, for reaching orbital speed, hydrogen is a better fuel, since the high exhaust velocity counts more later in the flight.

Therefore tripropellant vehicles start off burning with dense fuel and transition to hydrogen. (In a sense the Space Shuttle does this with it's combination of solid rockets and main engines, but tripropellant vehicles usually carry their engines to orbit.) The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ...

Reentry heat shields

Reentry heat shields on these vehicles are often some sort of ceramic and/or carbon-carbon heat shields, or occasionally metallic heat shields (possibly using water cooling or some sort of relatively exotic rare earth metal.)

Some shields would be single use ablatives and would be discarded after reentry.

Orbital reusable launchers

Currently in use

• Space Shuttle (partially reusable)

The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ...

Planned

• PlanetSpace Silver Dart (partly reusable spaceplane, based on hypersonic glider design)
• SpaceX Falcon 1 (announced as partially reusable; maiden flight on March 24, 2006 failed)
• SpaceX Falcon 5/Falcon 9 (announced as fully reusable; maiden flight scheduled for 1st quarter, 2008)
• Skylon an airbreathing SSTO spaceplane
• Kistler Aerospace K-1 (maiden flight schedule not yet announced)
• Kliper (Russian-European partially reuseable spacecraft to be launched around 2011 for the first time)
• Hopper (proposed reusable european launch system)

PlanetSpace is a privately funded rocket and space travel project founded by London, Ontario based entrepreneurs Geoff Sheering, and Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria. ... Silver Dart is a proposed eight-person lifting body orbital spacecraft announced by PlanetSpace. ... The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) is an El Segundo, California space transportation startup company whose stated goal is to improve the cost and reliability of access to space ultimately by a factor of ten. SpaceX is developing a family of mostly reusable two stage, kerosene/liquid oxygen launch vehicles. ... Envelope Length 21. ... March 24 is the 83rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (84th in Leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) is an El Segundo, California space transportation startup company whose stated goal is to improve the cost and reliability of access to space ultimately by a factor of ten. SpaceX is developing a family of mostly reusable two stage, kerosene/liquid oxygen launch vehicles. ... The Falcon 5 is a Falcon family two stage to orbit RP-1 kerosene/liquid oxygen semi-reusable launch vehicle designed and manufactured by SpaceX. The 1st stage includes five Merlin engines and the upper stage includes one Merlin engine. ... The Falcon 9 is an EELV class launch vehicle to be built by SpaceX. Three variants are proposed and, if built, will provide payloads of between 8,700 kg and 24,750 kg to low Earth orbit, and between 3,100 kg and 9,650 kg to Geostationary transfer orbit. ... The Skylon Spaceplane For other uses of the word Skylon, see Skylon (disambiguation) Skylon is a plausible design by top British rocket scientist Alan Bond for an aeroplane that would be able to fly into low earth orbit, and return, completely intact. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: it is patent nonsense. ... Russian media coverage of Kliper spacecraft - Russias Channel One TV network. ... Hopper is a proposed European Space Agency orbital craft. ...

Historical

• Soviet Union Energia-Buran system (partially reusable)

Energia on the launch pad Energia on the launch pad Energia on the launch pad Energia lifting off with the Polyus military payload The Energia (or Energiya, Энергия in Cyrillic) rocket was a Soviet rocket that was designed by NPO Energia to serve as a heavy-lift expendable launch system as... Illustration of the Buran Shuttle on an Energiya booster rocket Buran_Energia on the launch pad at Baikonur Buran_Energia on the pad Buran on liftoff Buran on touchdown Buran piggybacked on an An-225 carrier The Soviet reusable spacecraft program Buran (Бура́н meaning snowstorm or blizzard in Russian) began in 1976...

Suborbital reusable launchers

Planned

• Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCASPACE) Orizont
• Armadillo Aerospace Black Armadillo
• Canadian Arrow
• The da Vinci Project Wild Fire MK VI
• Masten Space Systems XA 1.0
• Pablo de Leon & Associates Gauchito
• Rocketplane Limited's Rocketplane XP
• Space Adventures Explorer
• Starchaser Industries Starchaser V - Thunderstar
• TGV Rockets MICHELLE-B
• The Spaceship Company SpaceShipTwo
• XCOR Aerospace Xerus

ARCA logo Asociatia Romana pentru Cosmonautica si Aeronautica (ARCA) or Cosmonautics and Aeronautics Romanian Association is a non-governmental organization that promotes aerospace projects as well as other space-related activities. ... Armadillo Aerospace is an aerospace startup company based in Mesquite, Texas. ... The Canadian Arrow is a privately funded rocket and space travel project founded by London, Ontario, Canada entrepreneur Geoff Sheerin. ... The da Vinci Project is a privately-funded, volunteer-staffed attempt to launch a reusable manned suborbital spacecraft. ... Masten Space Systems is an aerospace startup company in Santa Clara, California that is developing a line of Vertical Take-Off and Landing(VTOL) spacecraft that will eventually include manned orbital flight. ... Rocketplane Limited, Inc. ... Rocketplane Limited, Inc. ... Space Adventures Ltd. ... The Space Adventures Explorer spaceplane is a suborbital tourist rocketplane based on the C-21. ... Starchaser Industries is a British company headed by CEO Steve Bennett, working on the development of rockets for commercial space access. ... The Spaceship Company is a spacecraft manufacturing company formed by Burt Rutan and Richard Branson, jointly owned by Virgin Group and Scaled Composites, which will own the techology created by Scaled for Virgin Galctics Virgin SpaceShip program. ... SpaceShipTwo is a suborbital spaceplane currently under development by The Spaceship Company, a joint venture between Scaled Composites and Sir Richard Bransons Virgin Group of the UK. The Virgin Galactic spaceline plans to operate a fleet of five of these craft in passenger-carrying private spaceflight service starting in... XCOR Aerospace is a private rocket engine and spaceflight development company based in Mojave, California at the Mojave Spaceport. ... Species Xerus erythropus Xerus inauris Xerus princeps Xerus rutilus African ground squirrels (genus Xerus) form a taxon of squirrels under the subfamily Sciurinae. ...

Historical

• North American X-15
• Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne

The X-15 in flight, early 1960s The North American X-15 rocket plane was perhaps the most important of the USAF/USN X-series of experimental aircraft. ... Scaled Composites (often abbreviated as Scaled) was founded in 1982 in Mojave, California by famous aircraft designer Burt Rutan out of what used to be the Rutan Aircraft Factory. ... SpaceShipOne is small, having a three-person cabin and short but wide wings. ...

External links

• History of the Phoenix VTOL SSTO and Recent Developments in Single-Stage Launch Systems