As reported on slashdot, space.com, and many other sources, the privately funded SpaceshipOne from Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites took the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ flight, December 17, 2003, to record a first in-flight test of the new rocket on the spacecraft, bringing the speed above Mach 1 for the first time, and reaching 68,000 feet. The goal to meet the conditions for the X prize is about 3 times as fast and 5 times the altitude; most people expect them to succeed in the first half of 2004.