![\"Sierra](\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/sie_C_638509184365308731.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Sierra Space<\/strong>, a commercial space company and emerging defense tech prime building a platform in space to benefit and protect life on Earth, announced the successful completion of a rigorous environmental test suite on the revolutionary Dream Chaser<\/strong> spaceplane, Tenacity, at NASA\u2019s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.<\/p>\n As the first Dream Chaser moves toward orbital operations, Sierra Space and NASA test team members are preparing the vehicle, along with its Shooting Star cargo companion, for shipment to NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final testing and integration ahead of its inaugural launch later this year.<\/p>\n \u201cSuccessful completion of an incredibly rigorous environmental testing campaign in close partnership with NASA is a significant milestone and puts Dream Chaser on track for operations later this year,\u201d said Sierra Space CEO, Tom Vice<\/strong>. \u201cThis is the year that we transition from rigorous research and development to regular orbital operations and \u2013 in doing so \u2013 transform the way we connect space and Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the past several months, Dream Chaser and Shooting Star have undergone intense shock, vibration, and thermal vacuum testing at the sprawling Armstrong Test Facility. In December, the test teams conducted shock tests with Sierra Space\u2019s launch partner United Launch Alliance (ULA), using the flight separation system that will deploy the spacecraft from the upper stage of ULA\u2019s second Vulcan Centaur rocket.<\/p>\n The two vehicles were then stacked in launch configuration on the world\u2019s most powerful spacecraft shaker table inside the test center\u2019s Mechanical Vibration Facility. Sine vibration testing \u2013 conducted over a five-week period \u2013 simulated the intense conditions and environment of a launch on a Vulcan Centaur rocket. After vibe testing concluded, the teams conducted another shock test \u2013 this time with the flight separation system between Dream Chaser and Shooting Star \u2013 to simulate the dynamic environment during the separation of the two vehicles prior to de-orbit and re-entry.<\/p>\n The Sierra Space and NASA test teams transported the vehicles to the In-Space Propulsion Facility at Armstrong for thermal vacuum or \u201cT-VAC\u201d testing. Temperatures in space can range from extremely cold \u2013 hundreds of degrees below freezing \u2013 to several hundred degrees Fahrenheit due to radiation from the sun. TVAC testing is a realistic thermal simulation of the flight environment and is critical to ensuring mission success. For more than five weeks, Dream Chaser and Shooting Star were subjected to multiple cold-hot cycles in a vacuum environment, between -150F to +250F, with teams conducting functional tests at temperature plateaus to verify system performance. <\/p>\n Dream Chaser and Shooting Star will soon be transported to NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center and staged inside the storied Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) \u2013 originally built to be the last stop for components of the International Space Station \u2013 for final integration and testing. The final environmental tests \u2013 acoustic testing and electromagnetic interference and compatibility testing \u2013 will be performed onsite inside the SSPF. The remaining work on the thermal protection system will also be completed there.<\/p>\n Dream Chaser Tenacity, the first in a fleet of spaceplanes, remains on track for a 2024 launch on the first of seven missions to resupply the International Space Station for NASA under a Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract. A second spaceplane, named Reverence, is in production in Sierra Space\u2019s Louisville, Colo., factory. Armstrong Test Facility is part of NASA\u2019s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Located on 6,400 acres in Sandusky, Ohio, it is home to some of the world\u2019s largest and most capable space simulation test facilities, where ground tests are conducted for the U.S. and international space and aeronautics communities. <\/p>\n Click here to learn more about Sierra Space’ Shooting Star Spaceplane.<\/strong><\/p>\n