Going Orbital with Space Ship One

[mars_or_die]

According to this link SpaceShipOne on its second X-Prize flight reached an altitude of 69.6 miles (367,442 feet).<br /><br />According to this link low earth orbit can be obtained at 150 kilometers (93.21 miles).<br /><br />Now, my questions are: <br /><br />How hard would it be to upgrade the "White Knight" and "SpaceShipOne" designs to reach an altitude of 93.21 miles?<br /><br />How would this be accomplished?

 

[tony873004]

Just getting that high does not put you in orbit. It just puts you above the atmosphere. To orbit the Earth, Spaceship 1 must reach this altitude <i>and</i> must accelerate to orbital velocity which is almost 8 km/s. Although the altitude might be obtainable, 8 km/s is not an easy thing to achieve. That's why the Space Shuttle has 2 solid rocket boostera and a huge external tank.

 

[Saiph]

exactly what tony said.<br /><br />Spaceship one isn't supposed to be the design for an orbiter. It's supposed to get things started (the X-prize that is).<br /><br />Hopefully this will show people it isn't just a lost cause to try to do this, private companies can do it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p align="center"><font color="#c0c0c0"><br /></font></p><p align="center"><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">----</font></em></font><font color="#666699">SaiphMOD@gmail.com </font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">-------------------</font></em></font></p><p><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">"This is my Timey Wimey Detector.  Goes "bing" when there's stuff.  It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually.  I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- </font></em></font><font size="1" color="#999999">The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>