It’s easy to forget that Sierra Nevada Corporation has been beavering away for quite some time to develop a man-rated spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. However, short of a landing gear failure during a test in 2013, they are progressing along a path that may see them delivering cargo to the ISS as early as 2021.
The pressure vessel of the vehicle is composite, and is being manufactured by Lockheed-Martin:
Though the landing gear failed in the 2013 drop test, another test conducted in 2017 was completely successful:
The cargo version of the Dream Chaser is taking priority at SNC, in order to perform on the contract they have with NASA for six flights in the 2020’s, but the company admits that work is still underway on the crew-capable version. The recent explosion of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule has undoubtedly sharpened their focus around the table during engineering meetings.
No word yet on how they are going to provide a Launch Abort System, but found here is one study on the HL-20 lifting body craft upon which the Dream Chaser is based.
3 replies on “The Dark Horse”
This is such a dark horse I didn’t even know it was in the works. Thanks for highlighting it for us!
You’re welcome, guys. They have issues to overcome, like the fact that the lifting body tries to push a rocket off-course and they might have to put it inside a fairing, but they are definitely still in the running.
Great video, fascinating spacecraft. Thanks Steve.