US pioneer plans to offer spaceflights
By Dr David Whitehouse
BBC News Online science editor

Burt Rutan, the man behind the only aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without refueling, has unveiled what he calls the world's first private space programme.
The unveiling of Mr Rutan's space hardware, said to be at a mature stage of development, will undoubtedly push the race to become the first private astronaut into its final stages.

A capsule, rocket motors and the aircraft from which the capsule will be launched into space have been shown for the first time at Mr Rutan's base in California.

Experts are taking the initiative seriously, saying that Mr Rutan's track record and new technology put him on course to win the so-called X-prize for the first non-government spaceflight.

'No dreams or mock-ups'

Mr Rutan says he is tired of waiting for others to provide affordable human space access, referring to the high cost of American and Russian manned spaceflights.

For the past two years he has carried out what he describes as a secret and aggressive manned sub-orbital space programme in the Mojave Desert in California.

He told BBC News Online: "The event is not about dreams, predictions or mock-ups. We will show actual flight hardware: an aircraft for high-altitude airborne launch, a flight-ready manned spaceship, a new, ground-tested rocket propulsion system and much more."
Mr Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, describes itself as the most prolific research aircraft development company in the world.

It has been involved in numerous advanced aeronautical projects such as the Voyager aircraft that flew non-stop around the world in nine days in 1986.

The company also had a major role in the Pegasus rocket which is launched into space from beneath the wing of a carrier aircraft. That technology has placed numerous small satellites into orbit.

The rocket and capsule that will take the astronauts into space will be air-launched from a derrivative of his Proteus high-altitude aircraft.

Proteus has set three world altitude records for its class, reaching an altitude of 62,786 feet (19,137 metres) and carrying a one-ton payload to 55,878 feet (17,032 metres) in 2000.

X-prize contenders

Scattered throughout the world, many teams are vying for the $10m X-prize for the first non-government team to launch a three-person crew into space and safely return them to Earth. It has to be done twice in 10 days.

Many competitors are using conventional rockets, but balloons to take rockets to high altitudes and more ambitious systems are being considered by some.

But Mr Rutan is keen to say he has all he needs.

"This is not just the development of another research aircraft, but a complete manned space programme with all its support elements," he said.

"We are not seeking funding and are not selling anything. We are in the middle of an important research programme - to see if manned space access can be done by other than the expensive government programmes."

"After the unveiling, we will go back into hiding to complete the flight tests and conduct the space flights," Mr Rutan says.

Analysts are expecting an attempt on the X-prize early next year by Mr Rutan and possible one or two other X-prize contenders as well.


Could we be on the first steps towards space colonisation?

Governments will never put funding into something like this unless a) they're unaccountable dictatorships with huge economies, or b) the end of the world is nigh, so the only option is private space travel.

Corporations setting up extra-planetary tax havens, where environmental concerns 'don't matter' - permanent research stations and factories in orbit, or on the moon, or maybe even Mars (although that'd be a bit too expensive). Of course, employees up there will need some way of feeding themselves, and entertainment, and residences. Therefore, a small village is set up, which gradually expands, and hey presto, a city off Earth.

Not exactly ideal that the first thing we export into space is unbridled, unrestricted capitalism, but with the way most governments see space research as a money pit, it's going to take an incredibly wealthy private individual or corporation to make it happen.

After it's been proven to be feasible, it probably won't be long before governments get in on it.