Burt Rutan is an American aerospace engineer and entrepreneur known for his innovative designs in aircraft and spacecraft. He founded Scaled Composites, a company that developed several notable aircraft, including the Voyager, which completed the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world in 1986. Rutan is also recognized for his work on the SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded spacecraft to reach suborbital space in 2004. His contributions to aerospace engineering have earned him numerous awards, including the Collier Trophy and induction into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.