June 21, 2004: Aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately-funded craft to reach space. Follow-up flights that year solidify Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, as the winner of the Ansari X Prize, a competition intended to spur a private, manned-space industry. In addition, the flight captured the eye of financier Richard Branson, who entered a joint venture between his Virgin Group and Rutan's Scaled Composite to form Virgin Galactic to ferry people into space on Sept. 24 — despite Rutan's craft having flown only once. Rutan's vehicle, however, flew five days later, proving it was indeed reusable. To win the Ansari competition, SpaceShipOne flew for the last time on Oct. 4. The vehicle now sits in the Smithsonian. Meanwhile, Rutan is overseeing the construction of its follow-up, SpaceShipTwo, which is expected to carry up to six people. Should Rutan meet his goal of building five planes, Branson is reportedly prepared to finance the construction of the first private orbital spaceplane, SpaceShipThree. —
Matthew Wurtzel
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