It's no Laughing Matter, SpaceShipOne Burns Rubber

SpaceShipOne's recent X-Prize winning flights were an excellent achievement. Most important, it made believers out of many dreamers, and is sure to inspire more innovation from this sector.

Still, SpaceShipOne did more than achieve some altitude labeled sub-orbital space.

In fact its design has already created significant spin-offs that are sure to be studied and utilized by competitors in the private space race.

A SpaceShipOne Spin-Off

SpaceShipOne utilized a new fuel for rocket launches that is more powerful, safer, and environmentally friendly than average rocket fuels.

Hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) is basically tire rubber that is burned with nirtroxous oxide, or laughing gas. Because these substances are stored separately during flight, they are extremely more safe than traditional fuels. Additionally, the new fuel is more environmentally friendly, adding far less ammonium perchlorate and aluminum into the atmosphere.

This fuel system, combined with Burt Rutan's design enable SpaceShipOne to be an unbelievable 97 percent reusable.

This ability to quickly and safely reach the weightlessness of space makes SpaceShipOne a potentially immense resource for universities and businesses that are used to paying millions to NASA to do experiments in weightlessness on board the shuttle, or on the space station.

Much like the race to the moon helped develop today's computer and communication's innovations, as well as developing simple utilities, such as velcro, the private space industry will also lead to significant discoveries and innovations in the coming years.

These innovations alone could help private space develop untold new industries and jobs, completely independent from the private space race itself.