Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne had a successful drop test yesterday. This demonstrated the ability to take off with the vehicles mated (which had already been demonstrated in previous captive-carry flights), to smoothly separate the mated vehicles, and for both vehicles to fly safely back to Mojave. A couple more tests, and they'll be ready to integrate propulsion into the vehicle, and go for altitude.

It's quite conceivable to me that, due to Burt's regulatory shenanigans, getting a launch license may end up being the pacing item on his schedule, since it requires at least six months notice, and he only recently decided to apply for one.

Some pictures can be found here.

I like "pacing item" much better than "long pole in the tent," which always sounds vaguely alarming. I'm going to start using it and see if it catches on. ;)

Seriously, thanks for the updates. You're the go-to guy on the space commercialization regulatory scene.

...and saying "pacing item" instead of "on the critical path" shows how much you've recovered from aerospace engineerism, too! ;)

I think that one of the coolest things about SpaceShipOne is that it LOOKS like a spaceship.

No it won't achieve orbit, but damn it evokes some BuckRogers-esque cultural programming!!

And that I think is what has gotten so many people excited about the X Prize now (after Columbia blowing up focused everyone's attention in that direction).