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"Development of new space transportation systems is difficult."
Artist's illustration of Dream Chaser in orbit with its Shooting Star cargo module. Credit: Sierra Space
The Dream Chaser spaceplane, which has been under development for two decades, now seems like it might be further than ever from taking flight.
On Thursday, NASA, confirming an earlier Ars Technica report, said the first flight of the winged spacecraft will no longer berth with the International Space Station. Rather, the space agency said, the Dream Chaser program would be "best served" by a free flight demonstration.
"Development of new space transportation systems is difficult and can take longer than what’s originally planned," said Dana Weigel, manager of NASA's International Space Station Program, in a news release. "As NASA and its partners look toward space station deorbit in 2030, this mutually agreed to decision enables testing and verification to continue on Dream Chaser, as well as demonstrating the capabilities of the spaceplane for future resupply missions in low Earth orbit."
A dream delayed
Development work on Dream Chaser began in 2004, when a US company named SpaceDev resurrected a NASA concept known as the HL-20 spaceplane. Sierra Nevada Corporation acquired SpaceDev in 2008 and proceeded to win $362 million in NASA contracts to work on crewed transportation to the space station.
Sierra Nevada ultimately lost out on the Commercial Crew competition to Boeing and SpaceX, but in 2016, a cargo version of Dream Chaser was on-ramped onto a NASA program to deliver cargo to the space station. As part of its contract, Sierra Space was awarded a minimum of seven flights to the space station.
The total value of the contracts for dozens of supply missions, to be split among SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, and Sierra, was $14 billion. A NASA spokesperson declined Thursday to say how much money has been allocated to Sierra for its work on a cargo version of Dream Chaser.
However, in its news release, NASA said it is no longer obligated to a specific number of resupply missions.
Chasing those defense dollars
In its own statement on the announcement, Sierra Space said the new approach will provide it with more "flexibility" as the company seeks to attract national defense contracts.
"Dream Chaser represents the future of versatile space transportation and mission flexibility,” said Fatih Ozmen, executive chair at Sierra Space, in the statement. "This transition provides unique capabilities to meet the needs of diverse mission profiles, including emerging and existential threats and national security priorities that align with our acceleration into the Defense Tech market."
Although the NASA news release does not detail the space agency's concerns about allowing Dream Chaser to approach the station, sources have told Ars the space agency has yet to certify the spacecraft's propulsion system. The spacecraft is powered by more than two dozen small rocket engines, each capable of operating at three discrete levels of thrust for fine control or more significant orbit adjustments. Certification is a necessary precursor for allowing a vehicle to approach the orbiting laboratory.
Sierra said it is now targeting a "late 2026" debut for Dream Chaser, but that date is far enough in the future that it is likely subject to Berger's Law, and probably means no earlier than 2027. This all but precludes a cargo mission to the International Space Station, which is scheduled to be deorbited in 2030, and presently has two more-than-capable supply vehicles with SpaceX's Dragon and Northrop's new, larger Cygnus.
It is possible that Dream Chaser could serve a future market of commercial space stations in low-Earth orbit, but to do so, Sierra will have to get the vehicle flying reliably, frequently, and at a relatively low cost to compete with Dragon and Cygnus. Those are big hurdles for a spacecraft that is now many years behind schedule, and no longer has any guaranteed government missions.
Artist's illustration of Dream Chaser in orbit with its Shooting Star cargo module. Credit: Sierra Space
The Dream Chaser spaceplane, which has been under development for two decades, now seems like it might be further than ever from taking flight.
On Thursday, NASA, confirming an earlier Ars Technica report, said the first flight of the winged spacecraft will no longer berth with the International Space Station. Rather, the space agency said, the Dream Chaser program would be "best served" by a free flight demonstration.
"Development of new space transportation systems is difficult and can take longer than what’s originally planned," said Dana Weigel, manager of NASA's International Space Station Program, in a news release. "As NASA and its partners look toward space station deorbit in 2030, this mutually agreed to decision enables testing and verification to continue on Dream Chaser, as well as demonstrating the capabilities of the spaceplane for future resupply missions in low Earth orbit."
A dream delayed
Development work on Dream Chaser began in 2004, when a US company named SpaceDev resurrected a NASA concept known as the HL-20 spaceplane. Sierra Nevada Corporation acquired SpaceDev in 2008 and proceeded to win $362 million in NASA contracts to work on crewed transportation to the space station.
Sierra Nevada ultimately lost out on the Commercial Crew competition to Boeing and SpaceX, but in 2016, a cargo version of Dream Chaser was on-ramped onto a NASA program to deliver cargo to the space station. As part of its contract, Sierra Space was awarded a minimum of seven flights to the space station.
The total value of the contracts for dozens of supply missions, to be split among SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, and Sierra, was $14 billion. A NASA spokesperson declined Thursday to say how much money has been allocated to Sierra for its work on a cargo version of Dream Chaser.
However, in its news release, NASA said it is no longer obligated to a specific number of resupply missions.
Chasing those defense dollars
In its own statement on the announcement, Sierra Space said the new approach will provide it with more "flexibility" as the company seeks to attract national defense contracts.
"Dream Chaser represents the future of versatile space transportation and mission flexibility,” said Fatih Ozmen, executive chair at Sierra Space, in the statement. "This transition provides unique capabilities to meet the needs of diverse mission profiles, including emerging and existential threats and national security priorities that align with our acceleration into the Defense Tech market."
Although the NASA news release does not detail the space agency's concerns about allowing Dream Chaser to approach the station, sources have told Ars the space agency has yet to certify the spacecraft's propulsion system. The spacecraft is powered by more than two dozen small rocket engines, each capable of operating at three discrete levels of thrust for fine control or more significant orbit adjustments. Certification is a necessary precursor for allowing a vehicle to approach the orbiting laboratory.
Sierra said it is now targeting a "late 2026" debut for Dream Chaser, but that date is far enough in the future that it is likely subject to Berger's Law, and probably means no earlier than 2027. This all but precludes a cargo mission to the International Space Station, which is scheduled to be deorbited in 2030, and presently has two more-than-capable supply vehicles with SpaceX's Dragon and Northrop's new, larger Cygnus.
It is possible that Dream Chaser could serve a future market of commercial space stations in low-Earth orbit, but to do so, Sierra will have to get the vehicle flying reliably, frequently, and at a relatively low cost to compete with Dragon and Cygnus. Those are big hurdles for a spacecraft that is now many years behind schedule, and no longer has any guaranteed government missions.
