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NEW SCIENTIST
The dream of commercial space flight has taken an important step towards reality with the granting of the first licence to a private company to launch people to a height of 100 kilometres.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded the license to Scaled Composites, a California-based company run by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, for a one-year period.
The company is vying for the $10 million X Prize, to be awarded to the first private group to send three people to the sub-orbital height of 100 kilometres twice in two weeks.
Its contender is a rocket-plane called SpaceShipOne that will be launched from mid-air from a jet called White Knight. It is widely regarded as the front-runner for the prize.
Scaled Composites has so far declined to comment on the awarding of the license, but a statement by Rutan on the company web site reads: "We look to the future, hopefully within 10 years, when ordinary people, for the cost of a luxury cruise, can experience a rocket flight into the black sky above the Earth's atmosphere."
Reusable vehicles
Although the FAA has licensed more than 150 unmanned commercial rockets over 20 years, it has recently been studying the licensing requirements for manned launch vehicles, including reusable ones, such as SpaceShipOne.
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