The spacecraft is carried under the mother ship to 15,000 metres before its rocket engine ignites (Image: Scaled Composites)

An exotic-looking spacecraft and mother ship has been revealed by a celebrated US aerospace pioneer, who says it is the first privately funded human space programme.

Burt Rutan, best known for his non-stop, round-the-world aircraft Voyager, hopes the hitherto secret project will prove the viability of private space craft and thereby encourage other designers "What we're trying to do is show that it can be done at extremely low cost," he said.


user posted image View: Full Article | Source: Yahoo News