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 who has trained as a
commercial astronaut. He was a member of the
Scaled Composites astronaut team
and one of the test pilots for
SpaceShipOne, the experimental
spaceplane 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 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.
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
The Iven C. Kincheloe Award recognizes outstanding professional accomplishment in the conduct of flight testing. It was established in 1958 by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in memory of test pilot and Korean War ace Iven C. Kincheloe, Un ...
from the
Society of Experimental Test Pilots 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
Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
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
SpaceShipOne, 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. He stayed in this position for five years, from 2008 through early 2013.
The Spaceship Company
In June 2013, Shane joined
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 ...
(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.
See also
*
Scaled Composites
*
SpaceShipOne
*
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 ...
References
External links
Scaled Composites biographyAuction 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)