Douglas Bennett Shane is President of

The Spaceship Company The Spaceship Company (TSC) is a British/American spacecraft manufacturing company that was founded by Burt Rutan and Richard Branson in mid-2005 and was jointly owned by Virgin Group (70%) and Scaled Composites (30%) until 2012 when Virgin Gal ...

, as well as an American

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

who has trained as a

commercial astronaut A commercial astronaut is a person who has commanded, piloted, or served as an active crew member of a privately funded spacecraft. This is distinct from an otherwise non-government astronaut, for example Charlie Walker, who flies while represe ...

. He was a member of the

Scaled Composites Scaled Composites (often called simply Scaled) is an American aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman. It is located at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, United States. Founded to develo ...

astronaut team and one of the test pilots for

SpaceShipOne SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 3,000 ft/s (900 m/s, 3240 km/h), using a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "feathering" a ...

, the experimental

spaceplane A spaceplane is a vehicle that can fly and glide like an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and maneuver like a spacecraft in outer space. To do so, spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and spacecraft. Orbital spaceplanes ten ...

developed by Scaled Composites. Shane worked as the operations director on the SpaceShipOne project in addition to being one of the program pilots, and later served as President of Scaled Composites from 2008 through early 2013.

Biography

In 1982, Shane received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. Shane built a Long-Ez he called the "Shane Runabout".

Scaled Composites

In 1982, Shane joined Scaled Composites, in Mojave, California, as a test pilot and founding member. After 1989, he was responsible for business development, contracts, and proposals, as well as the company's flight test operations. In 1997, Shane received the Iven C. Kincheloe Award from the

Society of Experimental Test Pilots The Society of Experimental Test Pilots is an international organization that seeks to promote air safety and contributes to aeronautical advancement by promoting sound aeronautical design and development; interchanging ideas, thoughts and suggest ...

for his flight test work on the

Williams V-Jet II The Williams V-Jet II was designed and built by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites for Williams International as a test bed and demonstrator aircraft for Williams' new FJX-1 turbofan engine. Development Williams International had been building sma ...

and Vision Aire Vantage. He is a past President of the

. In 2004, as director of flight operations, Shane supervised the Ansari X Prize qualification flights from the control room. Although he was one of the four qualified pilots for

, Shane did not fly any of the flights himself. In June 2008, Shane was appointed president of Scaled Composites, taking over this role from previous president and company founder

Burt Rutan Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (; born June 17, 1943) is a retired American aerospace engineer and entrepreneur noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, and energy-efficient air and space craft. He designed the record- ...

. He stayed in this position for five years, from 2008 through early 2013.

The Spaceship Company

In June 2013, Shane joined

(TSC) to become executive VP and general manager, ending a 31-year career with Scaled Composites, including five as president. He was promoted to president of TSC in July 2014.

References

External links

Scaled Composites biography

Auction entry for Shane signature under category "Astronaut Autographs"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shane, Doug Scaled Composites Tier One program Commercial astronauts American aviators American business executives The Spaceship Company Virgin Galactic Scaled Composites University of Kansas alumni Living people American test pilots Year of birth missing (living people)

Biography

Scaled Composites

The Spaceship Company

See also

References

External links