Fully-Built Spacecraft, Launch System Developed In Secrecy.

Aircraft designer Burt Rutan unveiled Friday a fully-built launch system that, if flights outside the atmosphere prove successful, would be the first private manned space program. Both the spacecraft, called SpaceShipOne, and its launch platform, a futuristic jet known as the White Knight, were developed and built in secret and have already begun tests at lower altitudes.

Military officials watched the presentation with great interest, and indicated that Rutan's new launch system could be adapted to other uses as well, such as launching tiny "microsatellites" and giving military space programs far more flexibility.
MSNBC