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The new spaceplane Sierra Space will land on the runway instead of falling into the ocean.
Testing of the world's first commercial space plane capable of orbital flight will begin in the coming weeks. As reported, NASA will begin testing the Dream Chaser from the company Sierra Space, which is designed to replenish the International Space Station (ISS).
The spacecraft, dubbed "Tenacity," is currently at the Sierra Space facility in Colorado and will soon be transported to a NASA test site in Ohio. Here, the agency's engineers will conduct a series of tests over one to three months, including vibration, acoustic and temperature tests, to make sure that the device can withstand the conditions of a rocket launch.
Tenacity is scheduled to embark on its first space journey in April 2024 on a Vulcan rocket from the United Launch Alliance. However, the first test flight of the rocket is expected only in December, and, as is often the case in the space industry, delays are possible.
A distinctive feature of the Dream Chaser is the folding wings that allow it to fit into the cargo compartment of the rocket. During the first mission, the space plane will spend 45 days on the ISS, after which it will return to Earth, landing on the former shuttle landing strip at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, unlike many spacecraft that return by landing in the ocean.
Sierra Space CEO Tom Weiss highlighted the benefits of landing on a runway, noting that " falling into the ocean is terrible, and landing on a runway is really good." The company claims that the Dream Chaser is capable of returning loads to Earth with G-loads of less than 1.5 G, which is critical for preserving sensitive cargo.
The space plane will be able to deliver up to 12,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS and return up to 4,000 pounds back to Earth. In addition, Sierra plans to adapt its Dream Chaser fleet in the future to transport people to low-Earth orbit.
At the moment, SpaceX remains the only company operating fully certified spacecraft for NASA missions. Boeing also received a contract to develop a capsule for NASA in 2014, but its Starliner has yet to carry astronauts to the ISS. Sierra Nevada, from which Sierra Space was spun off in 2021, previously competed with these companies for contracts under NASA's commercial crew program, but then did not receive an order. However, after the company refocused Dream Chaser on cargo operations, NASA chose Sierra as one of its transportation service providers in 2016.
The first flight of the Dream Chaser to the ISS was expected for a long time. It was originally planned for 2019, but the project has faced delays compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hampered the delivery of key components. Now the company intends to prepare the second version of the Dream Chaser, designed for transporting people, by 2026.
NASA has long been interested in using spaceplanes, and now it seems they are closer than ever to using such vehicles. Virgin Galactic, which recently conducted its fifth commercial flight, uses space planes for tourism and research flights, but its spacecraft is only capable of suborbital operations, while Sierra Space with the Dream Chaser has more ambitious goals.
Testing of the world's first commercial space plane capable of orbital flight will begin in the coming weeks. As reported, NASA will begin testing the Dream Chaser from the company Sierra Space, which is designed to replenish the International Space Station (ISS).
The spacecraft, dubbed "Tenacity," is currently at the Sierra Space facility in Colorado and will soon be transported to a NASA test site in Ohio. Here, the agency's engineers will conduct a series of tests over one to three months, including vibration, acoustic and temperature tests, to make sure that the device can withstand the conditions of a rocket launch.
Tenacity is scheduled to embark on its first space journey in April 2024 on a Vulcan rocket from the United Launch Alliance. However, the first test flight of the rocket is expected only in December, and, as is often the case in the space industry, delays are possible.
A distinctive feature of the Dream Chaser is the folding wings that allow it to fit into the cargo compartment of the rocket. During the first mission, the space plane will spend 45 days on the ISS, after which it will return to Earth, landing on the former shuttle landing strip at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, unlike many spacecraft that return by landing in the ocean.
Sierra Space CEO Tom Weiss highlighted the benefits of landing on a runway, noting that " falling into the ocean is terrible, and landing on a runway is really good." The company claims that the Dream Chaser is capable of returning loads to Earth with G-loads of less than 1.5 G, which is critical for preserving sensitive cargo.
The space plane will be able to deliver up to 12,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS and return up to 4,000 pounds back to Earth. In addition, Sierra plans to adapt its Dream Chaser fleet in the future to transport people to low-Earth orbit.
At the moment, SpaceX remains the only company operating fully certified spacecraft for NASA missions. Boeing also received a contract to develop a capsule for NASA in 2014, but its Starliner has yet to carry astronauts to the ISS. Sierra Nevada, from which Sierra Space was spun off in 2021, previously competed with these companies for contracts under NASA's commercial crew program, but then did not receive an order. However, after the company refocused Dream Chaser on cargo operations, NASA chose Sierra as one of its transportation service providers in 2016.
The first flight of the Dream Chaser to the ISS was expected for a long time. It was originally planned for 2019, but the project has faced delays compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hampered the delivery of key components. Now the company intends to prepare the second version of the Dream Chaser, designed for transporting people, by 2026.
NASA has long been interested in using spaceplanes, and now it seems they are closer than ever to using such vehicles. Virgin Galactic, which recently conducted its fifth commercial flight, uses space planes for tourism and research flights, but its spacecraft is only capable of suborbital operations, while Sierra Space with the Dream Chaser has more ambitious goals.
