The engine burns for just over a minute, burning out at about 150,000 feet. By then, the craft is travelling at over 2,000 miles per hour and continues to rise to more than 62 miles, the officially-designated "edge of space".  After passing through its peak altitude, the spaceplane quickly descends, again on a steep trajectory. To cope with the heat of re-entry, the spacecraft has a unique feature: the trailing edge of its wings, and the twin tail sections attached to them, rotate nearly 90 degrees to the fuselage. As the atmosphere becomes thick enough to create drag and friction, the spacecraft falls into a stable, “carefree” orientation, likened to a badminton shuttlecock. 

At an altitude of about 80,000 feet, the wings and tails return to the horizontal position and the spacecraft becomes a glider with a range of up to 40 miles, allowing it to return safely to the same runway from which it was launched.

The craft is distinctive for its stubby fuselage, with over a dozen portholes in place of a conventional windscreen or canopy. This allows the cabin to be pressurized, permitting crews to work in a shirtsleeve environment rather than wearing bulky pressure suits. All windows are double-paned and the entire cockpit is surrounded by a second space-worthy shell. This full redundancy ensures that if either a window or any part of the shell were to crack, the passengers would still be safe.  The rocket engine burns a solid fuel, comprised of rubber and laughing gas. This solid fuel is safer, more stable and less expensive than traditional liquid-fueled systems where the fuel and oxidizer must be stored separately, then precisely combined during flight.

Model 316 made its first powered test-flight on December 17, 2003, the 100th anniversary of the first-ever powered flight by the Wright Brothers. On June 17, 2004, California's Mojave (mo-HAH-vee) Airport reclassified itself as the Mojave Spaceport. Four days later, test pilot Mike Melvill became the world's first civilian astronaut, reaching a confirmed altitude of 328,491 feet.

Melvill was again at the controls on September 29, 2004, for the first official X-Prize qualifying flight. The ship reached an altitude of 337,500 feet in a flight that will be best remembered for its dramatic series of "unscripted" barrel rolls during the rocket burn. Melvill easily stabilized the craft for a textbook re-entry and picture-perfect landing.

Five days later, on October 4, Melvill flew the White Knight carry plane as fellow test pilot Brian Binnie pushed the spaceplane to X-Prize victory and a new record of 367,442 feet in what was described as "a milestone for humanity."

The reverse side of the 2005 coin is a sketch of the newly renovated Gander & Area Chamber of Commerce building.