They call it the Dream Chaser, and according to its maker, Sierra Space, the machine is not only America's but the world's first true spaceliner. Building on the legacy of the Space Shuttle, and based on a spacecraft design dating back to the 1960s, the Dream Chaser will put a new spin on reusability, taking stuff up to various orbits and then landing just like regular aircraft do.
The Dream Chaser has been in the news (and in the works) for quite some time now, not in small part because it's a complex machine that comes as a worthy alternative to the (reusable or less so) capsule-based SpaceX Dragon, Boeing Starliner, or Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft.
The lifting bodydesign of the Dream Chaser traces its roots back to the HL-20 NASA was researching six decades ago. It has an overall aircraft shape, kind of like the Space Shuttle used to have, and that really makes it look like a proper machine for use in space.
The main reason for the spaceplane coming into existence is to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) for the few more years it is allowed to stay in orbit. As such, the first version of the Dream Chaser is being developed as an uncrewed piece of hardware meant to haul cargo.
The thing is 30-foot (nine-meter) long and 15-foot (4.5-meter) wide and it will be capable of carrying up to 11,500 pounds (5,200 kg) of cargo. Cargo won't be carried in a single space, but divided between the spaceplane's own payload bays and an attached cargo module the company is calling the Shooting Star.
During the first mission to the ISS, the spaceplane, which wears the name Tenacity, will carry about half that weight, 7,800 pounds (3,500 kg), all of it inside the Shooting Star. The mission will also be the first true test of the spaceship's systems, and a means to prove that the concept works.
Photo: Sierra Space
Initially, Tenacity's first mission was supposed to lift off in the spring of this year, but as it usually happens in space exploration that moment came and went without such a thing happening. The new launch date is not presently set, but the first flight of the Dream Chaser, aided by a ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket, probably won't happen before next year.
Both Sierra Space and NASA crews are working hard to make that happen, and we heard last week that the spacecraft is currently in its "final testing and launch preparations"phase, with all the action taking place at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The ship has been on location since May, inside the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF), the same place where all components of the ISS were once housed. It is there where the finishing touches are made. But if you think that "finishing touches" means small adjustments here and there, you're wrong.
Sierra Space and NASA target three main objectives with the work currently being conducted: final assembly and system checks, environmental testing, and pre-launch processing.
The first objective means fitting the spaceplane with the rest of the thermal protection system that will help it withstand the challenges of re-entry. It also means performing propulsion system closeout and leak testing.
The environmental tests will require subjecting the spacecraft to electromagnetic interference meant to mimic the one encountered during flight, and to loud sounds meant to test whether both the ship and its cargo module can survive the noise generated during launch.
Photo: Sierra Space
Upon return from space, the Dream Chaser will land like an aircraft, and it will do so on the runway of the Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) at the Kennedy Space Center, the same place the Space Shuttle used to call home.
To make sure the landing goes without a hitch, tests are being performed on the differential braking system.
Last but not least, pre-launch processing means making sure the Dream Chaser is perfectly mated to the carrier rocket's fairing: that's right, the spaceplane departs inside the nose of the Centaur, not attached to the side of a booster like the Space Shuttle used to do.
Sierra Space targets regular operations from Kennedy from 2026, and it already enlisted the help of a logistics company called All Points Logistics. The new partner will help with "reprocessing the reusable spaceplane onsite in Florida."
That includes moving the Dream Chaser from the runway to the Space Prep facility, where it can be inspected, unloaded, and prepped to fly again. Space Prep is a new facility that will span 500,000 square feet (46,500 square meters) and will include the transportation system to the launch pad.
If all goes well with the cargo Dream Chaser, we might later get a version of it capable of carrying astronauts. Until that time, though, the spacecraft will have to complete seven missions to the ISS, as per a contract with NASA.
