Sierra Space has finished a set of environmental tests on its Dream Chaser spacecraft at a NASA facility in Ohio. The spacecraft is now set to be transported to Florida for a launch later this year.
On May 9, the company announced that the Dream Chaser spacecraft, named Tenacity, and its Shooting Star cargo module finished shock, vibration, and thermal vacuum tests at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio.
After completing the tests, Dream Chaser and Shooting Star are prepared to be sent to the Kennedy Space Center. There, the spacecraft will undergo additional acoustic and electromagnetic testing, as well as the installation of elements of its thermal protection system and payload integration for its upcoming flight.
Tom Vice, chief executive of Sierra Space, stated, “Finishing an extremely rigorous environmental testing campaign in close collaboration with NASA is a significant achievement and puts Dream Chaser on track for operations later this year.
Sierra Space has not provided a specific launch date for Dream Chaser, which was initially planned to fly by June this year. Industry sources now anticipate a launch in the fall due to remaining pre-launch work on Dream Chaser and the schedule of visiting vehicles to the International Space Station, including the Crew-9 Crew Dragon mission in late summer followed by a cargo Dragon mission.
The first launch has been delayed by several years due to development delays in Dream Chaser and for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket that will be the spacecraft's second launch. Vulcan had its successful inaugural launch in January, and Dream Chaser is set to be the rocket’s second launch, certifying the rocket for carrying national security payloads.
This mission is the first of seven currently contracted to Sierra Space for NASA cargo missions to the ISS. The company is constructing a second Dream Chaser vehicle, called Reverence, to be used with Tenacity on those missions and other potential applications. The company has also announced its plan to create a crewed version of Dream Chaser.
