SpaceShipOne flight. SpaceShipeOne in flight on 29 September 2004, with pilot Mike Melville at the controls. The white high-altitude research rocket is between two chase planes. The twin-engined Starship turbojet is at the top, while a monoplane is on the right. On this flight, SpaceShipOne achieved a height of over 100 kilometres, allowing an American team, Scaled Composites, to complete the first objective of the Ansari X-Prize rules. The second objective is to complete a second space flight within two weeks of the first one. The award for completing both objectives is $10 million.