Air and Electrical Power

Clean, dry air was used in the pneumatics to pressurize the actuators. The cabin was also pressurized with air. Each system had its own high-pressure bottle and a backup bottle. The feather, environmental control system (ECS), and reaction control system (RCS) each had a bottle A and bottle B. The initial pressure of these six bottles was 6,000 pounds per square inch (psi). Other systems also required pressurized air, but they fed off of these bottles. Electricity was provided by an array of lithium batteries.

SpaceShipOne was the first manned spacecraft to use a hybrid rocket engine, which is a cross between a liquid-fueled rocket engine and a solid – fueled rocket engine. Designed by Scaled Composites, it ran by using a combination of synthetic rubber and nitrous oxide. Mojave Aerospace Ventures LLC, photograph by David M. Moore