LOUISVILLE, Colo. – Dec. 15, 2023 – Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space to benefit of life on Earth, has delivered the first Dream Chaser spaceplane, Tenacity, to NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Dream Chaser, the world’s only commercial spaceplane, has entered the final testing phase ahead of its first flight in 2024. The testing campaign will confirm the spacecraft’s resilience to the challenges of launch and the demanding conditions of space as it prepares for its inaugural mission to the International Space Station under a multi-mission NASA contract.
Dream Chaser joins Sierra Space’s cargo module, Shooting Star™, which arrived at the NASA test facility in November. The two vehicles are set to be stacked in launch configuration and undergo rigorous environmental testing starting in the Mechanical Vibration Facility. The test will subject them to the extreme conditions of launch vibrations on the world’s most powerful spacecraft shaker table. Sierra Space is unwavering in its commitment to ensuring the utmost reliability of its cutting-edge technologies. Dream Chaser, crafted in tandem with the groundbreaking Shooting Star cargo module, will reinvent space transportation and usher in the burgeoning era of space commercialization known as the Orbital Age®.
“At Sierra Space, we are ushering in the next industrial revolution with a business and technology platform that provides our customers with a complete turn-key solution offering space as a service,” said Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice. “Our platform includes Dream Chaser, a revolutionary, highly reusable commercial spaceplane with global runway access, and the first business-ready commercial space station, leveraging the most advanced expandable structural architecture that will exponentially decrease the cost of product development and manufacturing in space.”
Selected by a NASA contract:
Dream Chaser was selected by NASA for cargo delivery, return and disposal service for the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract.
High reusability and flexibility:
Dream Chaser’s highly customizable design makes it ideal for a range of applications, providing fast turnaround times to support various LEO needs. The fleet will provide greater efficiencies with high reusability and mark the beginning of a new era of space commercialization. The multi-mission spaceplane fleet is designed to transport crew and cargo to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and can be customized for both domestic and international customers for global operations.
NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility:
NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility is part of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Located on 6,400 acres in Sandusky, Ohio, it is home to some of the world’s largest and most capable space simulation test facilities, where ground tests are conducted for the U.S. and international space and aeronautics communities.
About Sierra Space
Sierra Space is a leading commercial space company at the forefront of innovation and the commercialization of space in the Orbital Age®, building an end-to-end business and technology platform in space to benefit life on Earth. With more than 30 years and 500 missions of space flight heritage, the company is reinventing both space transportation with Dream Chaser®, the world’s only commercial spaceplane, and the future of space destinations with the company’s inflatable and expandable space station technology. Highly scalable and flexible, this innovative “softgoods” technology will define a new generation of space stations. Sierra Space also builds and delivers a host of systems and subsystems across solar power, mechanics and motion control, environmental control, life support, propulsion and thermal control, offering myriad space-as-a-service solutions for the new space economy.
Source: Sierra Space
