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Scaled Composites history
Scaled Composites company history timeline
…was designed and developed by Scaled Composites of Mojave, Calif., an aerospace development company founded by American aircraft designer Burt Rutan in 1982.
Before SpaceShipOne, Rutan was best known for his Voyager aircraft, which his brother, Dick Rutan, and Jeana Yeager flew around the world without refueling in 1986.
In 1988, Beech's parent company, Raytheon, sold Scaled back to Rutan, who then sold it to Wyman-Gordon.
The prototype aircraft, N27VV, was donated to the EAA AirVenture Museum in 1988.
In 1996, the X Prize Foundation offered $10 million to the first civilian team to launch a low-cost spaceship into suborbital flight twice within two weeks.
On December 17, 2003, they announced SpaceShipOne's first supersonic flight, the first flight of its kind by a privately funded aircraft.
On April 1, 2004, the United States Department of Transportation issued the company what it called the world's first license for a sub-orbital crewed rocket flight.
The craft set a new civilian altitude record of 64 km (40 miles) in May 2004.
Flight 16P on September 29, 2004 and Flight 17P on October 4, 2004 won the X-Prize for Scaled Composites and SpaceShipOne.
In 2005, the single-jet Global Flyer was flown by billionaire adventurer Steve Fossett on the first solo non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world, and later in the longest flight in history: 41,467.53 km (25,766.73 mi).
Following the crash of one in New Brunswick, Canada, in September 2006 due to wing tank fuel contamination, fewer than five are currently still flying.
In 2006 the GlobalFlyer, again piloted by Fossett, made the longest airplane flight, covering a record 42,469.5 km (26,389.3 miles).
The acquisition by Northrop Grumman was completed on August 24, 2007.
Rutan retired in April 2011.
In August 2015, Scaled Composites president Kevin Mickey stated the company has so far assembled "roughly 200,000 pounds of composite structure" for the vehicle and if put on a football field, "its wingtips would extend beyond the goalposts by 15 feet on each side."
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Scaled Composites competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northrop Grumman | 1939 | $41.0B | 97,000 | 3,045 |
| Pratt & Whitney | 1925 | $16.2B | 38,737 | 29 |
| SpaceX | 2002 | $2.0B | 9,500 | 1,472 |
| Sierra Nevada | 1963 | $2.0B | 4,000 | 444 |
| United Space Alliance | 1995 | $2.0B | 2,500 | - |
| Aurora Flight Sciences | 1989 | $169.2M | 468 | 22 |
| Blue Origin | 2000 | $42.8M | 3,500 | 1,079 |
| Cirrus Aircraft | 1984 | $360.0M | 1,701 | 206 |
Scaled Composites history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Scaled Composites, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Scaled Composites. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Scaled Composites. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Scaled Composites. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Scaled Composites and its employees or that of Zippia.
Scaled Composites may also be known as or be related to Scaled Composites, Scaled Composites LLC and Scaled Composites, LLC.