{"id":18561,"date":"2018-04-18T18:39:03","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T10:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/sierra-nevada-corp-gears-up-to-build-a-cargo-spaceship-and-a-space-station\/"},"modified":"2018-04-18T18:39:03","modified_gmt":"2018-04-18T10:39:03","slug":"sierra-nevada-corp-gears-up-to-build-a-cargo-spaceship-and-a-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/sierra-nevada-corp-gears-up-to-build-a-cargo-spaceship-and-a-space-station\/","title":{"rendered":"Sierra Nevada Corp. gears up to build a cargo spaceship \u2013 and a space station"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dream
Sierra Nevada Corp.\u2019s Dream Chaser atmospheric test vehicle is on display at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. \u2014 Sierra Nevada Corp. is showing off a prototype of its Dream Chaser space plane, but its focus is quickly shifting to building the real thing to send to orbit.<\/p>\n

And as if that\u2019s not enough, there\u2019s an orbital power plant and space habitat to work on as well.<\/p>\n

SNC executives provided what they promised would be a series of status reports today here at the 34th Space Symposium, in front of the engineering test vehicle for the Dream Chaser program.<\/p>\n

The 30-foot-long, stubby-winged plane was built for atmospheric tests, to check the aerodynamics and flight control systems for an autonomous mini-space shuttle that will be capable of ferrying cargo to and from the International Space Station starting in 2020.<\/p>\n

The plane flew a \u201ccompletely successful\u201d test last November after being dropped from a helicopter hovering at a height of 12,000 feet, SNC\u2019s Mark Sirangelo told reporters. The flight profile was similar to that used for the space shuttle Enterprise\u2019s atmospheric tests during the early days of NASA\u2019s shuttle program, but without a pilot at the controls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our Enterprise,\u201d said Sirangelo, who heads the company\u2019s Space Systems business area.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=niupPzdZa6M&t=17s<\/p>\n

After its star turn at the Space Symposium, the test vehicle will be transported to SNC\u2019s production facility in Louisville, Colo., and put in \u201cflyable storage,\u201d said Steve Lindsey, a former NASA astronaut who now serves as SNC\u2019s vice president of space exploration systems.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not expected to fly again unless and until SNC revives its plans to build a crew-capable version of the Dream Chaser. But thanks to the data acquired during its flight tests, SNC is moving ahead with development of the still-uncrewed but space-worthy Dream Chaser.<\/p>\n

Lindsey said plans for the orbital vehicle has gone through critical design review, and the first parts of the primary structure are due to arrive in Louisville next month. \u201cWe\u2019re going into production now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Once it\u2019s assembled, the plane will be tested on the ground, in vacuum chambers and on runways. If all proceeds according to plan, it will go all the way to the space station on its first launch, scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2020 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. Once it makes its delivery, the reusable plane can fly itself back to a runway landing.<\/p>\n

Sirangelo declined to specify how much SNC has spent on the Dream Chaser over the past 13-plus years, except to say that it\u2019s a \u201csignificant amount.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mark
Sierra Nevada Corp.\u2019s Mark Sirangelo talks to reporters with the Dream Chaser engineering test vehicle serving as a backdrop. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SpaceX, Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada Corp. are all due to share in a NASA cargo resupply program that could dole out as much as $14 billion in the 2019-2024 time frame. Each carrier is guaranteed at least six flight orders, but NASA hasn\u2019t said how the payments will break down on a per-flight basis.<\/p>\n

SNC is also in the running to provide two key pieces of hardware for NASA\u2019s future space exploration program, which focuses on the in-space construction of a Lunar Orbiting Platform \u2013 Gateway in the mid-2020s.<\/p>\n

The company won separate NextSTEP-2 contracts to build a ground-based prototype for the first piece of the gateway, known as the power and propulsion element, as well as for an expandable deep-space habitat that could be attached to the complex.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we start building this [Dream Chaser] vehicle up in Louisville, at the same time we\u2019re actually building a full-sized prototype of the lunar gateway, which\u2019ll be built right next to it,\u201d Lindsey said. \u201cSo it\u2019ll be a really cool place to come visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SNC
An artist\u2019s conception shows Sierra Nevada Corp.\u2019s expandable deep-space habitat in orbit around the moon. (SNC Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA awarded the contracts as part of a competitive program that involves other companies as well, and it\u2019ll be a while before the agency awards contracts for the actual space hardware. The power and propulsion element is currently due for launch in 2022.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not certain that SNC will be providing modules for the space gateway, but for now, Sirangelo is reveling in the moment. He noted that 2018 marks the golden anniversary of the theatrical release of \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a weird sort of way, for those of us who\u2019ve seen that movie, if you remember, there was a commercial space plane going to a commercial space station in that movie,\u201d Sirangelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd here we are \u2014 as a company that, a number of years ago, most people didn\u2019t know \u2014 we are now building a commercial space plane, and a commercial space station. The two are going to be together,\u201d he said. \u201cHow cool is that, to be able to say that you can do both of those in your lifetime?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sierra Nevada Corp.\u2019s Dream Chaser atmospheric test vehicle is on display at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. \u2014 Sierra Nevada Corp. is showing off a prototype of its Dream Chaser space plane, but its focus is quickly shifting to building the real thing to send to orbit. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[291,970,4703,622],"class_list":["post-18561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-dream-chaser","tag-sierra-nevada-corp","tag-space-symposium"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18561"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}