spacetoday.net: SpaceShipOne performs second powered flight

Posted: Thu, Apr 8, 2004, 4:00 PM ET (2000 GMT)
SpaceShipOne on 7th glide flight (Scaled Composites)

SpaceShipOne, the reusable suborbital spacecraft being developed by Scaled Composites, made its second powered flight early Thursday, flying twice the speed of sound. According to a report by the X Prize Foundation, SpaceShipOne fired its main engines for 40 seconds on this test flight, reaching top speed of approximately Mach 2 and a peak altitude of about 32 kilometers. The report indicated no problems with the flight. Details about the flight had not been publicly announced by Scaled Composites as of mid-afternoon Thursday. The flight comes just a day after the FAA announced that it had awarded Scaled a launch license to conduct a series of suborbital flights of the vehicle. The vehicle's first powered flight, on December 17, as well as a series of glide tests, were all conducted under an experimental aviation license.