Posted: Fri, Jul 4, 2003, 9:45 AM ET (1345 GMT)
Scaled Composites has filed a reusable launch vehicle launch license application with the FAA for its SpaceShipOne suborbital spacecraft, Aerospace Daily reported Thursday. Scaled, run by noted aircraft designer Burt Rutan, filed an application with the FAA's Office of the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation last week; the office has 180 days to approve or reject the license. The application is a change in course for Rutan, who said when SpaceShipOne was publicly unveiled in April that he planned to fly the vehicle under an experimental aircraft license, rather than seek a launch license. Rutan told Aerospace Daily that he still believes that an experimental license is better suited to his vehicle, and has asked FAA administrator Marion Blakey for a "new interpretation" of existing rules to determine if his vehicle does indeed require a launch license. Rutan application is the first time the FAA has been asked to license the launch of a reusable spacecraft, although several other companies pursuing their own suborbital RLVs are expected to file applications within the next few years.

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