Northrop Grumman finalized its acquisition of Scaled Composites on August 24, increasing its shares from 40 percent to 100 percent. Scaled Composites is the aerospace and specialty composites development company founded and run by Burt Rutan, known most recently for designing the first privately funded rocket-powered spacecraft, SpaceShipOne. The spacecraft made its first supersonic flight on Dec. 17, 2003, and was launched from Mojave Airport in Mojave, Calif. In July, three employees were killed during an explosion at the Mojave site while testing a nitrous oxide injector on SpaceShipTwo.