Mike Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne during the first privately funded human spaceflight in June 2004.
Melvill flew the vehicle on June 21, 2004, during its first powered flight into space. SpaceShipOne was developed by Scaled Composites for the Tier One program, financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
The flight reached an altitude above 100 kilometers, the internationally recognized boundary commonly used for space. Melvill became the first privately funded astronaut and also the first civilian pilot to fly a privately developed crewed spacecraft into space.
SpaceShipOne later won the $10 million Ansari X Prize after Brian Binnie piloted its second qualifying flight on October 4, 2004. Melvill and Binnie are therefore both closely associated with the prize, but Melvill made the historic first powered spaceflight.