Safety Is Key To Private Spaceflight Rise And Success

SpaceShipTwo undertook its 23rd glide flight on Dec. 19 in the pre-powered portion of its incremental test flight program. This was a significant flight as it was the first with rocket motor components installed, including tanks. It was also the first flight with thermal protection applied to the spaceship's leading edges.

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Commercial human spaceflight will need to be much safer than the space shuttle for the industry to really take off, experts say.

NASA's venerable space shuttle program suffered two fatal accidents in its 30 years of orbital service - the 1986 Challenger tragedy and the 2003 destruction of Columbia, both of which killed all seven astronauts on board.

The space shuttle fleet blasted off a total of 135 times before its retirement in 2011, giving the iconic vehicle a fatal-accident rate of about 1.5 percent. Private spaceflight companies will have to do considerably better than that if they hope to build a viable industry, observers say.

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