After the Quickie Aircraft Corporation, Rutan’s next customer was NASA ... Rutan’s 31st airplane, the mantis-like Proteus is multi-mission but one of a kind. Invented as a broadband tower ...

Among these were two unconventional aircraft, the Model 281 Proteus and a Model 401 Sierra of Scaled Composites. "Proteus and the 401s have been doing incredibly important work for many years ...

Powered by two Williams International FJ44-2E turbofans, Proteus is a HALO aircraft—high altitude ... spacecraft (Proteus designer Burt Rutan is a contender for the $10 million X-Prize being ...