The Spaceship One, which was exclusively funded by Paul G. Allen, was designed by aviation legend Burt Rutan and built by his research team at the California-based aerospace company Scaled Composites. The privately-developed rocket plane was launched into history on 21st June 2004 on a mission to become the world's first commercial manned space vehicle.

Mike Melvill piloted the Spaceship One to an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles). The Spaceship One has reached a record breaking height of 328,491 feet under the control of examination pilot Mike Melvill. Making Melvill the best civil to fly a spaceship out of the atmosphere and the first private pilot to gain astronaut wings.