As reported on space.com and slashdot, Burt Rutan’s X-Prize contender, Spaceship One, has just performed its third powered flight, on the morning of Thursday, May 13. This latest flight achieved more than double the altitude of the last flight, at over 200,000 feet, and reached Mach 2.5, compared to the previous high speed close to Mach 2. The first powered flight broke the sound barrier on the hundredth anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ voyage, December 17, 2003.

To win the X Prize, a competitor has to reach 100 km altitude, or 330,000 ft in a craft capable of carrying three passengers, and repeat the trip with the same vehicle within two weeks.