SpaceShipOne makes history with first manned private spaceflight

SPACE tourism came a step closer yesterday when a private commercial rocket flew into the near reaches of space for the first time.

The privately-funded SpaceShipOne craft made aviation history when it flew more than 62 miles above the surface of the Earth.

It also brought the design team, led by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, closer to a $10 million prize set up to encourage commercial space travel in the future.

The craft, piloted by Mike Melvill, 62, took off from California's Mojave desert in California at 1.47pm Irish time, 17 minutes behind schedule.

A plane called White Knight, carried SpaceShipOne high into the air before the two craft separated and SpaceShipOne's rockets boosted it beyond the Earth's atmosphere.

The two craft returned to Earth one hour and 28 minutes later, making a safe touchdown in the desert at 3.15pm.

Thousands of people gathered in the desert to watch history being made.

Mr Rutan, who has been granted the first licence to launch a manned sub-orbital rocket, predicted recently that affordable space travel would be available within 10 years.

Mr Rutan became famous in the aviation world in 1986 when his Voyager plane made the first non-stop flight around the world without refuelling.

Speaking shortly after the touchdown, Mr Melvill described the view of the Earth from 62 miles high.

"The colours were pretty staggering from up there. It's almost a religious experience. It's an awesome thing to see, you can see the curvature of the Earth," he said. "You have got a hell of a view from 62 miles."

Mr Melvill experienced weightlessness for about three minutes when he was beyond the Earth's atmosphere.

Mr Rutan, who designed the craft, described the moment that the record was broken.

"Up there in mission control there were three or four times during the flight ... you saw these people extremely emotional."

Mr Melvill said there was a scare during the flight when he heard a loud bang. After landing he pointed to a place at the rear of the spacecraft where a part of the structure covering the nozzle had buckled, suggesting it may have been the source of the noise.

The craft cost around $20m much cheaper than Government-funded missions launched around the world.