Steve's death on 3 September 2007, the structural and aerodynamic design of the fuselage had been completed, along with the aerodynamic design of the entire sailplane. Funding for the remainder of the Perlan Project was lost with Steve's death, and a search for new funding was begun. Airbus Perlan Mission II After Fossett's death in 2007, it appeared for a time that the mission was on permanent hiatus. However, a new team gradually reassembled around Enevoldson and partial funding was secured thanks to commitments from partners in the United States and Australia. Einar Enevoldson reported in September 2008, that Morgan Sandercock, an experienced sailplane pilot from Australia, had provided funds to restart the project. This funding was put to completing the fuselage with pressure cabin and do the structural tests on it, but additional funds were needed to complete the aircraft. In June 2010, Dennis Tito joined the mission as a pilot and major funder, which enabled significant progress towards the completion of the aircraft. That same year Jim Payne, holder of numerous world soaring records, joined the project as chief pilot. A great deal of design work has been done by Greg Cole of Windward Performance to show that a sailplane for 90,000 feet is relatively straightforward, while 100,000 feet is possible, although more difficult and expensive. Windward Performance would build the sailplane of high performance pre-preg in production-quality tooling. The sailplane required relatively high-end design, analysis, and construction to be flutter-safe at very high true air speeds, and strong enough for the potentially heavy turbulence that could be encountered at 90,000 feet. It must also have well-proven, fail-safe pressurization and cabin air re-cycling systems. In 2014, Airbus agreed to become the title sponsor, and provide sufficient funding for completion of the aircraft, flight testing and the altitude flights. The mission as renamed the Airbus Perlan Mission II. RDD Enterprises, an aviation research, design & development company based in Redmond, Oregon, took over the manufacture of the Perlan 2. Flight campaigns The aircraft was completed in the summer of 2015, with first flight scheduled for 7 September. Windy conditions that day prevented the flight, which finally occurred on 23 September. Flight testing will start and continue in Minden, NV in fall and winter of 2015, using a new hangar donated by Tito. The first attempts to reach 90,000 feet will be launched from El Calafate, Argentina, deep in the