perfidy

Bert Rutan's Scaled Composites are in the lead in the race for the X-Prize. This week, on the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight, Rutan's company staged the first flight of the SS1, (Space Ship 1). Although the flight was suborbital, two important conditions apply. 1) The SS1 is the first supersonic rocket-powered aircraft to be sent up by a private company rather than the Air Force, and 2) the SS1 is totally and cheaply reusable.

The X-Prize team predict that within a year, Rutan or one of two other teams will claim the prize, and the era of private space flight will begin. Sweet!!!!