SpaceShipOne was the first privately-developed spacecraft to carry a pilot to suborbital space. Built by aerospace visionary Burt Rutan’s company Scaled Composites, and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, SpaceShipOne made three successful flights in 2004. On its first flight it flew 62.5 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, making it the first nongovernmental vehicle to cross the “Karman Line”, the accepted point of entry to space according to the International Astronautical Federation. As a result of its record-breaking flights, the spacecraft won the $10 million Ansari X Prize.
Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne (Replica)
Did you know?
On its first flight to space, pilot Mike Melville released M & M candies in the SpaceShipOne cockpit and watched them float around the capsule while the spaceship was in zero gravity.
About our Spacecraft
This SpaceShipOne is one of six replicas cast from the same mold as the original space plane. (The original is in the National Air and Space Museum.) The replicas were cast by Scaled Composites, the same company that built the original. The Museum's example is the only replica on display in Texas. Other replicas are on display in Washington state, California, New Mexico, and Wisconsin.
On loan from the Saint Louis Science Center.

