Tier One was a Scaled Composites' 1990s–2004 program of suborbital human spaceflight using the reusable spacecraft SpaceShipOne and its launcher White Knight. The craft was designed by Burt Rutan, and the project was funded 20 million US Dollars by Paul Allen. In 2004 it made the first privately funded human spaceflight and won the 10 million US Dollars Ansari X Prize for the first non-governmental reusable crewed spacecraft. The objective of the project was to develop technology for low-cost routine access to space. SpaceShipOne was not itself intended to carry paying passengers, but was envisioned that there would be commercial spinoffs, initially in space tourism. The company Mojave Aerospace Ventures was formed to manage commercial exploitation of the technology. A deal with Virgin Galactic could see routine space tourism in the late 2010s using a spacecraft based on Tier One technology. Design Program components The design concept of Tier One was to air launch a three-person piloted spacecraft which climbs to slightly above altitude using a hybrid rocket motor and then glides to the ground and lands horizontally. Scaled Composites lists the following components of the program: Mission control In addition to an office-based mission control, Tier One has a mobile mission control center. This is relatively small, built into a large road-going truck. It bears the Scaled Composites logo, but no other overt indication of its link to Tier One. The vehicle performs a combination of support functions: telemetry monitoring and recording telecommunications auxiliary environment control for White Knight and SpaceShipOne This control center is used to support both rocket motor ground tests and all flight tests of White Knight and SpaceShipOne. Its primary function is to monitor and record test data, and to this end it is equipped with computers and radio communication gear. SpaceShipOne's avionics displays are duplicated in mission control. Telemetry data is received on a data reduction system (DRS), which automatically directs radio antennas to point at the craft being monitored. The telemetry system has a range of about . The control center is equipped to communicate with Scaled Composites' offices, as well as the aircraft and spacecraft. The control center maintains a temperature-controlled atmosphere for its staff, and can be hooked up to provide temperature control for the White Knight and SpaceShipOne cabins. The physical structure of mission control also provides easier access to the White Knight cabin. Nitrous oxide delivery Unlike the solid