Classic Aero-TV: The Next Horizon – Brian Binnie on Commercial Space Flight | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Wed, Dec 29, 2010

Classic Aero-TV: The Next Horizon – Brian Binnie on Commercial Space Flight

SpaceShipOne Pilot Brian Binnie Reflects on the Future of Private Space Flight

E-I-C Note: The Aero-TV Team -- Jim, Tom, Nathan, Paul, The 'Other' Jim, Ashley, Birgit, Wes, Klyde, Anjin, and the rest of the aero-gnomes -- want to wish you Happy Holidays while we all pursue our own various and sundry holiday diversions. Our regular daily webcasting schedule will resume promptly on Monday, January 3rd, 2011. In the meantime, please enjoy this 'classic' episode of Aero-TV from the past year as we all recover from our various and sundry Christmas/New Year's celebrations...

On October 4th, 2004, the X PRIZE Foundation made international headlines when they awarded the Ansari X PRIZE to Scaled Composites for the successful launch of their craft, SpaceShipOne. Inspired by the Orteig Prize, won by Charles Lindbergh in 1927 for the successful completion of the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris, Peter Diamandis formally announced the X PRIZE competition in 1996.

The competition offered the largest incentive prize in history, a stunning $10 million dollar award, to the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft 100 kilometers above the earth’s surface twice within two weeks.

26 different teams representing 7 nations around the world competed for the prize. Finally, on the 47th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch, the Tier One Project, led by Scaled Composites’ aerospace designer Burt Rutan and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, successfully completed the second of the two necessary launches.

 Though $10 million dollars was awarded to the team, the 26 participating teams invested more than $100 million dollars in total towards new technologies in pursuit of the prize. Since the success of the Ansari X Prize, more than $1.5 billion dollars has been invested towards the private spaceflight industry.
 


Piloting the historic second flight was former Navy test pilot Brian Binnie. After graduating from the U.S. Navy’s Test Pilot School, Binnie dedicated over 20 years of Naval Service in the Strike-Fighter community. Through the years, he logged over 4,600 hours in 59 different aircraft. With an educational background including a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and an M.S. in Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics from Brown University, as well as an M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Princeton University, Binnie proves himself not just as a talented test pilot, but also as an essential component for Burt Rutan and Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson as they push ahead with SpaceShipTwo. Join Aero-TV as Brian Binnie reflects on what is to come for the commercial space industry.

FMI: www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/binnie.htm, www.xprize.org, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews

Advertisement

More News

Airborne 06.30.25: US v ADS-B Misuse, Nat’l STOL Fire, Volocopter Resumes

Also: Netherlands Donates 18 F16s, 2 737s Collide On Ramp, E-7 Wedgetail Cut, AgEagle's 100th In S Korea The Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act was introduced in the House by Represent>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (07.06.25)

“This delivery represents more than just a milestone. It symbolizes our shared commitment to national security and our unwavering support for the men and women who serve on t>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.06.25)

Aero Linx: Vintage Wings of Canada Foundation Vintage Wings of Canada is a not-for-profit, charitable organization with a collection of historically significant aircraft and is run>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Portrait of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): To Preserve and Teach Incorporated as a non-profit domestic corporation in June 1997, the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation (AAHF) is a one-of-a-kind, >[...]

Airborne-NextGen 07.01.25: Volocopter Returns, B23 Energic, Iran Tech In UAVs?

Also: Air Taxis May Be Close, AgEagle Sells 100th, VAI Likes Bedford, AURA AERO Cleans Up Volocopter has resumed work towards the certification of its VoloCity eVTOL, this time und>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC