 {|  |} the scaled composites model 281 proteus is a tandem-wing high-endurance aircraft designed by burt rutan to investigate the use of aircraft as high altitude telecommunications relays. the proteus is actually a multi-mission vehicle, able to carry various payloads on a ventral pylon. an extremely efficient design, the proteus can orbit a point at over 65,000 feet (19,800 m) for more than 18 hours. it is currently owned by northrop grumman. ==design and development== proteus has an all-composite airframe with graphite-epoxy sandwich construction. its wingspan of  is expandable to  with removable wingtips installed. proteus is an "optionally piloted" aircraft ordinarily flown by two pilots in a pressurized cabin. however, it also has the capability to perform its missions semi-autonomously or flown remotely from the ground. under nasa's environmental research aircraft and sensor technology (erast) project, nasa's dryden flight research center assisted scaled composites in developing a sophisticated station-keeping autopilot system and a satellite communications (satcom)-based uplink-downlink data system for proteus' performance and payload data. the proteus wing was adapted for use on the model 318 white knight carrier aircraft, which is the launch system for rutan's tier one spacecraft and the darpa x-37. flight testing of the proteus began with its first flight on july 26, 1998 at the mojave airport and continued through the end of 1999. in june, proteus was deployed internationally for the first time, debuting at the paris air show. it was flown non-stop from bangor, maine to paris. during the week-long show, it flew each day, demonstrating its capabilities as a telecommunications platform. the proteus is the current holder of a number of fai world records for altitude (class: c1-e: landplanes 3,000-6,000&nbsp;kg, group: 3, turbojet), set in cooperation
Meteorology_research_and_field_projects Northrop_Grumman Rutan_aircraft Scaled_Composites Tandem-wing_aircraft Twin-boom_aircraft Twinjets United_States_experimental_aircraft_1990a1999 United_States_special-purpose_aircraft_1990a1999 Unmanned_aerial_vehicles_of_the_United_States