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Breaking News
10:52 a.m. ET: Ignition - SpaceShipOne dropped dramatically from the White Knight mothership and fired its rocket engine for the trip into into space.
10:32 a.m. ET: Temperatures aloft are unpredictable, affecting how well the White Knight carrier plane can climb the final 4,000 feet prior to dropping SpaceShipOne, an analyst said.
10:26 a.m. ET: The White Knight carrier plane now must work hard to climb in the thin air. Separation is due in about 15 minutes (corrected time estimate).
10:21 a.m. ET: Brian Feeney, who leads a rival X Prize effort called the da Vinci group, wished the SpaceShipOne team well this morning and vowed not to stop his own effort. "Even if the prize is won today, we will fly," Feeney told SPACE.com. "We're moving our program as fast as we can. We'll announce a launch date in a short period of time. Feeney was wearing a gold-colored outfit to promote GoldenPalace.com, his team's sponsor. But Feeney's mission has been a largely volunteer effort, while SpaceShipOne is backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. "Not eeryone has a billionaire available to them," Feeney said this morning.
10:12 a.m. ET: White Knight and SpaceShipOne have reached about 25,000 feet, more than halfway to the drop point, said commentator Gregg Maryniak.
10:06 a.m. ET: SpaceShipOne and the White Knight mothership can be seen on live video soaring above the desert, with a chase plane just behind. All systems appear to be "go" so far.
9:52 a.m. ET: Airborne - SpaceShipOne is airborne, slung under its White Knight carrier plane. The pair now begin the long flight to about 47,000 feet, where SpaceShipOne will be dropped. Then it will fire its rockets and head spaceward. Flight Plan / Story
9:43 a.m. ET: The White Knight carrier ship with SpaceShipOne underneath have begun heading for the runway.
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