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Civilian spaceflight took a giant leap last month, when the first private
crewed spacecraft lifted off under rotor power—to an altitude of two and a
half metres. Standing more than 20 metres tall and resembling a large cone with
rocket-tipped rotor blades on top, the Rotary Rocket Company’s two-person Roton
spacecraft is designed to launch under rocket power but land like a helicopter.
The Roton’s maiden flight, at Rotary Rocket’s Mohave Desert base, was
designed to test and verify the vehicle’s approach and landing manoeuvres (see
video clip at www.rotaryrocket.com/hot/hot.html). The company hopes to
be delivering payloads to orbit by 2001.