Sierra Space
Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser® Spaceplane Comes to Life (Press Release - May 31)
Dream Chaser, the World’s First Commercial Spaceplane, Powers Up Achieving a Major Step Forward in Realizing the Vision of Sustainable Commercial Space Travel
LOUISVILLE, Colo. – Sierra Space, a leading, pureplay commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space, is thrilled to announce the successful power up of its revolutionary Dream Chaser® spaceplane.
Dream Chaser represents a groundbreaking leap in space transportation technology, designed to provide reliable and cost-effective access to space for a wide range of applications. With its unique lifting body design, the spaceplane combines the flexibility of an aircraft with the capabilities of a spacecraft, revolutionizing space travel.
The power-up of Dream Chaser signifies the activation of its integrated systems, showcasing the culmination of years of rigorous engineering, design and testing. Sierra Space simulated the power that will be generated from Dream Chaser’s solar arrays once on orbit.
Test engineers plugged that power into Dream Chaser and began turning on systems. Sierra Space exercised flight computers, base processors and low-voltage distribution units.
“This is a milestone that points to the future and is a key moment in a long journey for Dream Chaser,” said Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space. “With this significant achievement, our Dream Chaser spaceplane is poised to redefine commercial space travel, opening up new possibilities for scientific research, technological advancements and economic opportunities in space.”
The successful test was a key moment for the progress of space technology after years of design and development across Sierra Space, enabled by the accomplishments of many teams from system-level design to final assembly and test.
Dream Chaser is a reusable, fully autonomous, orbital spaceplane designed to transport cargo to low-Earth orbit (LEO) destinations such as the International Space Station (ISS) and land at conventional runways. Measuring about one-quarter the size of the Space Shuttle, it features autonomous launch, flight and landing capabilities with a smooth 1.5 low-G re-entry on compatible commercial runways worldwide.
Source: Sierra Space
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Attaching tiles to Dream Chaser, Tenacity, is a highly intricate process. Do you know why both black and white tiles are used? pic.twitter.com/radYY9zdg3
— Sierra Space (@SierraSpaceCo) May 26, 2023
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