Sierra Space's Dream Chaser Space Plane Fascinates
New Space Plane Wars
Sierra's Space Plane Dream Chaser
Dream Chaser is a supersonic SST space plane being developed and getting ready to go into service by Louisville, Colorado based Sierra Space. The vehicle is the world's first and only winged commercial space plane, according to Sierra. It is designed to compete against Elon Musk's SpaceX, Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to carry astronauts, space tourists and supplies into space. Dream Chaser is aggressively developing its global business footprint and is rolling out a brand-new chapter of space wars in the commercialization of space.
Building a Global Business Network
Dream Chaser is awesome aviation technology. It is launched on top of a rocket and then dislodges and flies on its own power into space at supersonic speeds. The SST flies back to Earth on its own power and wings and lands at specially designed space airports called spaceports. Sierra just signed a MOU with Spaceport America to use their 12,000-foot runway in New Mexico for landings. Sierra is also growing its number of landing sites for Dream Chaser to include NASA's Kennedy Space Center and spaceplane landing sites in Japan, the UK and Alabama.
On the Job
The SST will be on the job in 2023 for a series of 7 missions to the International Space Station to deliver 12,000 pounds of supplies for the astronauts. A crewed Dream Chaser with 3 to 7 astronauts will be launched in 2025. For now, Sierra is focused on building its global network of landing sides and what it calls space tech hubs within the existing commercial space infrastructure system. It is also about to open an astronaut training facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Dream Chaser has historic roots in NASA. It is based on a NASA concept that dates back to 1990. NASA tried but did not succeed in developing it. The new commercial version of Dream Chaser is now ready for takeoff. For more news like this, The Future of Flying
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