Scaled Composites

…2004 the aerospace development company Scaled Composites of Mojave, California, won the Ansari X Prize with SpaceShipOne, a vehicle conceived by American aircraft designer Burt Rutan.

…Rutan launched a second company, Scaled Composites, which created research aircraft. SpaceShipOne was developed at Scaled Composites, with significant financial backing from billionaire Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft Corporation. The craft set a new civilian altitude record of 64 km (40 miles) in May 2004. Then, in October 2004, Rutan…

…was designed and developed by Scaled Composites of Mojave, Calif., an aerospace development company founded by American aircraft designer Burt Rutan in 1982. The space vehicle was part of a broader program known as Tier One, which was made up of SS1, a launch aircraft called White Knight (WK), a…