Documentary · 93 minutes

Beyond Blue Sky

From 2001 to 2004, a small team of engineers led by Burt Rutan built a simulator, a mothership and a rocket-propelled glider that test pilots Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie flew to space three times. It was a radical experiment that proved a low-cost, privately financed, manned space program was possible.

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Director · DP · Editor · Colorist: Kevin Curran
Producers: Kevin Curran and Brian Binnie
Original score: Charles Denler, five-time Emmy winner
5.1 re-recording mixer: Tony Solis, Emmy nominee
Streaming on: Apple TV & Amazon Prime Video

Trailer

Beyond Blue Sky poster: the first private astronauts above Earth

Movie Stills

Aerial view of Mojave Air and Space Port — Drone footage of Mojave Air & Space Port

Sally and Mike Melvill stand together in a hangar — Mike Melvill, the first commercial astronaut, and his wife, Sally

Burt Rutan working at his desk — Burt Rutan designing at his desk in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Brian Binnie at National Test Pilot School — Brian Binnie at the National Test Pilot School

Brian Binnie looking at the sky in his backyard — Brian Binnie in his backyard in Rosamond, California

Mike Melvill in a to-camera interview in his hangar — Interview of Mike Melvill in his hangar in Tehachapi, California

Archival Stills

The SpaceShipOne simulator under construction, wired to a rack of computers — The SpaceShipOne simulator

Hybrid rocket motor ground test in the Mojave desert — Rocket motor test, Mojave Desert

Scaled Composites mission control during a flight — Mission control at Mojave Air & Space Port

The team pushes White Knight and SpaceShipOne out of the Scaled Composites hangar at night — White Knight and SpaceShipOne roll out of the hangar

Synced split screen of Brian Binnie flying SpaceShipOne under rocket power — Brian Binnie's first rocket-powered test flight

Brian Binnie surrounded by press cameras beside SpaceShipOne after the X Prize-winning flight — Astronaut Brian Binnie after his XPRIZE-winning flight

How it was made

Interviews, no narrator

Seated interviews, looking straight at the lens, form the spine of the story. Shot in DCI RAW on green screen. Hangars at Mojave Air & Space Port and the National Test Pilot School were used as background plates.

Archival footage

Licensed from over a dozen sources, including Warner Bros. Discovery, and upscaled from SD to UHD. Synced side-by-side camera footage puts viewers inside the cockpit during supersonic test flights.

Sound

An original score by Charles Denler and a 5.1 mix by Tony Solis. Archival cockpit audio lets you hear the rocket, comms, the feather and supersonic reentry.

Modern day cinematography

DCI capture of the team today, using gimbals, drones and variable frame rates. Delivered as 4K ProRes 422 HQ UHD.