Engineering technicians work on thermal protection system tiles and the nose harness on the Dream Chaser at Sierra Space in Louisville on October 30, 2023. Sierra has doubled its workforce, from 1,000 to 2,000 over the past year. It’s centerpiece effort right now is the Dream Chaser, which harks back to the space shuttle design. The company expects to launch an initial uncrewed flight next year to take cargo to the International Space Station.
“Wings are back,” Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice said Monday to members of the media who got a look at the nearly ready-to-roll Dream Chaser. “It’s been a dream. Today it’s nice to see that we moved from just dreaming to finishing up doing,” Vice said. “It’s been a lifelong project for many, many people.” Sierra Space expects work on the next Dream Chasers to go more quickly in part because the company is producing several items in-house, including thrusters, harnesses, thermal tiles for the outside of the craft and the solar arrays. Vice said the second Dream Chaser will likely be about 50% less expensive to build.
Juan Morales, a quality inspector, left, and Andrew Hughes, senior marketing manager, move large wooden version of the design for the official patch of the Dream Chaser at Sierra Space in Louisville on October 30, 2023. Morales asked to design the patch and described designing it as his passion project.
The Sierra Space team includes members with backgrounds in flight operations at NASA and other companies, such as SpaceX and Northrop Grumman. The control center will be staffed around the clock. Because this is the Dream Chaser’s first mission, Tenacity will be put through various tasks to demonstrate its abilities, Davis said. Sierra Space has worked with the Federal Aviation Administration to clear the way for its landing at the Kennedy Space Center.
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