Although NASA’s Project Mercury and SpaceShipOne served very different objectives, a closer look reveals that both missions were powered by equal parts of competition, innovation, and a strong dose of ...

Scaled Composites is planning changes for its SpaceShipOne rocket glider, following a pitchup incident in flight test that showed the current configuration is not safe for the planned flight to 100 km ...

Organizers of the Ansari X Prize announced Friday that SpaceShipOne will launch as planned on Oct. 4 to seal its victory for the competition's $10 million award. The second voyage of Paul Allen's ...

MOJAVE, Calif.--A venture backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen got a jump Wednesday on rivals eyeing a $10 million prize for the first privately funded junkets into space and back. A specialized ...

When re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, SpaceShipOne employed a feathering system that raised to 65 degrees the rear half of the wings along with both tail booms. Invented by American engineer Burt Rutan ...

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum will later this year become the permanent home to SpaceShipOne, the first privately built and operated vehicle to reach space and a ...

If you're a fan of SpaceShipOne, the world's first privately developed manned spacecraft, it's pretty hard to beat last year's act at the EAA AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wis., when the historic rocket ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Aerospace maverick Burt Rutan, who designed the historic globe-circling Voyager aircraft and the first private manned rocket to reach space, will retire next year.Rutan, 67, ...

Part 2 explores the dramatically different approaches to the launch systems, and the surprising similarities in the factors that contributed to their success. Although they served very different ...