SPACE SHIP — Burt Rutan discusses modifications to SpaceShipOne with technicians at Scaled Composites. The space ship is scheduled to attempt to reach an altitude of 50 miles in an historic flight on June 21st from Mojave Airport.

BY BILL DEAVER
MOJAVE — The history of man’s efforts to reach space will be written by private firms, not NASA and other big government enterprises, Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan believes.
And much of that history could be made at the Mojave Civilian Aerospace Test Center, said East Kern Airport District general manager Stuart Witt.
In an exclusive interview, Rutan said firms like his and others will expand the envelope of knowledge about reaching space, because NASA has forfeited that responsibility.
“When NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe, before receiving the NASA accident board’s report (on the Columbia accident), promised Congress that NASA would follow exactly the rules and recommendations set down by an accident board’s report, he drove a nail into NASA’s coffin in terms of their capability to ever again do research flying - i.e., you can’t take risks,” Rutan said.
“That had to lead him to a decision to not go back to the Hubble telescope even though they’ve been there many times, and I think there’s kind of a message here, a message that’s even understood by a child. And the message is that if NASA doesn’t have the courage to go back to the Hubble space telescope, why should we give them the money to go to Mars? Or to the moon? Wouldn’t that just be a waste of money?”
Private firms
“That means that it’s going to be up to small companies like Scaled Composites and others who will do this - it’s going to be up to us - it’s going to be up to us not just to have sub-orbital space tourism, which will be a wonderful era, where you - yourself, Bill, can fly the flight you will watch a test pilot fly here in June.”
“It will be a wonderful era, but it will be a short one because it will lead, very quickly to private space stations and private space shuttles and affordable vacations on orbit.”
“And, the organizations that take us to Mars will be entrepreneurs and corporations doing it for their shareholders, not NASA doing it for the taxpayers.” Rutan said.
Mojave spaceport
“The future of Mojave as a spaceport is a natural extension of 60 years of aerospace testing in the Aerospace Valley.,” Witt said.
“Space is the next frontier emerging for the private sector,” the former test pilot continued. “It is no longer the domain of governments, because Burt Rutan and several others are pursuing various methods of space access — concepts that have never been done but are affordable, and they potentially will work.”
“We have seven rocket companies at Mojave Airport and we have an inland spaceport,”Witt said, adding that he is receiving proposals from companies that want to spend millions to develop a private spaceport at the airport.
“They want to use Mojave, not only to access space, but to use the infrastructure, the talents, the experiences already gained to foster a new, emerging industry,” Witt added.

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