Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Pioneering SpaceShipOne on display at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Credit: NASM/Eric Long

It was a one-of-a-kind memorable moment for a throng of well-wishers including this reporter, all in nose-up, sky squinting position at California’s Mojave Airport back on June 21, 2004.

Let loose from its White Knight mothership, the rocket engine propelling SpaceShipOne roared to life, skillfully controlled by test pilot Mike Melvill.

That pioneering flight lasted 24 minutes, gliding back to Mojave and sliding straight and true into the history books.

Burt Rutan, aerospace imagineer. Image credit: Scaled Composites

Now two decades later, Burt Rutan, chief designer of the craft that led his stellar Scaled Composites team, reflects on that epic day in an exclusive interview with Space.com.

“It should get a party every 10 years. And it certainly should get a big party on the 50th and the 100th anniversary,” Rutan says.

To access the story, go to my new Space.com reflection – “How SpaceShipOne’s historic launch 20 years ago paved the way for a new space tourism era” — at

https://www.space.com/spaceshipone-first-private-spaceflight-20-year-anniversary