Ansari X Prize, most notably the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne, which conducted the first privately funded human sub-orbital flight on June 21, 2004. Other groups based at the Mojave Spaceport include or have included XCOR Aerospace, Masten Space Systems, Virgin Galactic, The Spaceship Company, Stratolaunch Systems, and Firestar Technologies. Other companies with operations at Mojave include or have included Orbital Sciences Corporation, Vector Launch and Interorbital Systems. The East Kern Airport District was given spaceport status by the Federal Aviation Administration for the Mojave Air and Spaceport through June 16, 2019. Aircraft heavy maintenance, storage and event center The Mojave airport is also known as a storage location for commercial airliners, due to the vast area and dry desert conditions. Numerous Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed, and Airbus jetliners including wide-body aircraft previously or currently owned by major domestic and international airlines are stored at Mojave. Some aircraft reach the end of their useful lifetime and are scrapped at the Mojave aircraft boneyard, while others are refurbished and returned to active service. The airport refurbished an old United States Marine Corps hangar from the World War II era into a modern event center. It was previously used for water survival training then transformed into the Stuart O. Witt Event Center with over 23,000sf of multi-use space. First flights and significant events July 1, 1942 — Construction begins on Marine Corps Auxiliary Air Station at Mojave. July 31, 1944 — USMC Capt. Edward Shaw, a decorated World War II ace, was killed while test-flying an F4U Corsair February 7, 1946 — MCAAS disestablished. December 31, 1953 — MCAAS Mojave re-established. May 21, 1975 — First flight of the Rutan VariEze June 30, 1978 — First flight of the Rutan Defiant June 12, 1979 — First flight of the prototype of the Rutan Long-EZ April 3, 1980 — First prototype Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed in the Mojave desert, killing one of the pilots; flight test program was operating from Mojave at the time. September 25, 1981 — National Test Pilot School opens August 23, 1983 — First flight of the Boeing Skyfox August 29, 1983 — First flight of Beech/Scaled Composites Model 115 Starship January 7, 1986 — Voyager homecoming, after round-the-world record flight. July 12, 1988 — First flight of the Scaled Composites Triumph February 19, 1990 — First flight of the Scaled Composites ARES July 26, 1998 — First flight of the