WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman Corp.
agreed July 5 to increase its stake in Scaled Composites — the builder of the
Ansari X-Prize Cup-winning SpaceShipOne and a host of record-breaking aircraft — from 40
percent to 100 percent, Northrop Grumman spokesman Dan McClain confirmed July
20.
McClain,
who declined to disclose the value of the deal, said the company expects it to
close in August pending regulatory approval by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Scaled
Composites currently is working with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic
venture on a vehicle designated for now as SpaceShipTwo, which would carry two
pilots and six paying passengers into suborbital space for a few minutes of
weightlessness. The company also is building a new carrier aircraft, dubbed WhiteKnight2,
that will carry SpaceShipTwo to an altitude of 15 kilometers before releasing
it to soar to suborbital space.
The two
companies last year formed a joint venture called the Spaceship Company to
build the new vehicles.
Alex Tai,
chief operating officer of Virgin Galactic, declined to comment when asked July
20 how the acquisition would affect his company's dealings with Scaled
Composites. "I'm afraid I can't provide you with any comment at this stage and
I don't think [Scaled Composites] can either," Tai said.
Scaled Composites, with the backing
of Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, won the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004
when SpaceShipOne was piloted to an altitude just above the internationally
recognized border of space twice in a two-week period.
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