Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a spaceplane! No, it’s a lifting body reusable spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station! Part of NASA’s attempt to develop a vibrant space community, NASA solicited awards for commercial resupply missions as well as crewed spacecraft launch services. The spacecraft doesn’t get the publicity as some other spacecraft, which is a shame since it deserves it. Oh, yeah, sorry about the superman reference, but we will have a Star Trek reference at the end of the article for all you Star Trek fans.

Originally was intended as a crewed vehicle, the Dream Chaser Space System would have been capable of carrying up to seven people to and from low Earth orbit. Due to concerns about developmental delays, NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX seemingly less risky capsule approach for crewed missions. NASA did select the Dream Chaser for resupply missions in place of crewed missions. 

The cargo Dream Chaser will resupply the International Space Station with both pressurized and unpressurized cargo. The vehicle will launch vertically on the rocket inside of a 5-meter fairing and deliver 5,500 kg of pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the International Space Station.

SNC could still offer a crewed version in the future with a useful life of at least 25 round trip missions. A crewed version still likely in the future and well within SNC’s capabilities. NASA recently announced the Dynetics Human Lander System team as one of the three winners for the return to the moon Artemis contracts. SNC provides key system hardware to Dynetics for that contract.

The Dream Chaser Cargo System is a US reusable lifting-body spaceplane being developed by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems. ERR, what’s a lifting body?

So, technically, the Dream Chaser acts as a lifting body… so from a technical jargon sense, maybe it makes it a space-lifting-body and not a spaceplane? Okay, Spaceplane sounds better, so let’s stick with that. 

Aside fro Dream Chaser going into orbit, it differs from a typical airplane by not having a large wing structure that provides the lift to keep the vehicle in the air. Dream Chaser instead is a lifting body (the fuselage is used to lift) and does have small winglets, or fins, to provide directional stability in flight. 

Dream Chaser has NASA and Air Force heritage. Lifting bodies were a major area of research during the 1960s and 70s and were a serious design option for the Space Shuttle. The US did build and fly several lifting body rocket planes to test the concept, as well as several rocket-launched re-entry vehicles that were tested over the Pacific. Once the Shuttle design necessitated certain size and crossrange capabilities, the lifting body design fell out of favor.  

The lifting body concept gained momentum again in the 1990s. NASA explored the HL-20 Personnel Launch System. NASA conceptualized the HL-20 spaceplane for crewed orbital missions. Although the HL-20 never made it past a paper rocket, the goals to achieve low operational costs, improved flight safety, and a possibility of landing on conventional runways sparked attention.  

The Dream Chaser thrust into the limelight when NASA announced a competition for innovative commercial supply companies to provide crew and supplies to the International Space Station and Low Earth Orbit. The SNC design provided low-g reentry allows and lifting-body design gives Dream Chaser a higher lift-to-drag ratio and allows for greater cross-range landing capability as compared to the competing capsule design. NASA did see merit in the SNC offer and selected SNC Dream Chaser for development to support resupply missions to the International Space Station.

The SNC Dream Chaser contract with NASA stipulates at least six cargo resupply and returns service missions to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract. The Dream Chaser and attached Shooting Star transport vehicle can carry up to 12,000 pounds of supplies and other cargo.

Okay, so they got a NASA contract, now what?

SNC, since the award, worked diligently towards the first flight. In April 2020, both wings for the Dream Chaser spaceplane got uncrated at the company’s Louisville, Colorado production facility. The wings’ arrival starts the integration phase for Dream Chaser. The world’s only spaceplane owned by a private company and under contract with NASA began to take final shape.

“The wings are here and now we truly have butterflies in anticipation of this integration phase for Dream Chaser. Our spaceplane looks and functions unlike anything else in space – more technologically advanced but with all the heritage of the space shuttle program in its design. Dream Chaser’s first flight will be a soaring moment for all of us.”

SNC President Eren Ozmen

The Wing Deployment System (WDS) integration rolls up into the larger part of the assembly and integration of the vehicle. Unlike the shuttle, Dream Chaser’s wings are stowed in the fairing ahead of launch. After the launch vehicle and fairing separates from Dream Chaser, the WDS deploys the wings and locks them into place. Yeah, the Dream Chaser wings move but remain at a very steep angle. The shuttle wings were a fixed Delta wing configuration and flat in comparison. The steeply angled wings function as stabilizers for the lift generated by the body of the vehicle.

“The wings for Dream Chaser presented an interesting design challenge. Not only must they survive in low-Earth orbit like a satellite, but they need to be operational in Earth’s atmosphere, like an aircraft.”

Dream Chaser program director John Curry

Just like the structural body for Dream Chaser, the wings arrived from manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s Texas facility, a subcontractor to SNC. The wings made from single bonded composite structures. This state-of-the-art technology saves weight without compromising strength or stiffness.  

But Who is Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC)?

Owned by Chairwoman & President Eren Ozmen along with CEO Fatih Ozmen, SNC provides open architecture engineering in Space Systems, Commercial Solutions, and National Security and Defense. SNC acts as a Tier One Superior Supplier for the U.S. Air Force, and as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. SNC’s 55-year legacy of state-of-the-art civil, military and commercial solutions includes delivering more than 4,000 space systems, subsystems and components to customers worldwide, and participation in more than 450 missions to space, including Mars.

SNC also inked a deal with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). Cargo Dream Chaser, in 2024, takes flight for its first space launch for UNOOSA. The estimated mission UNOOSA scheduled for at least two weeks in free-flight providing space access to United Nations member states that have no space programs of their own. 

Okay – you waiting for it, Star Trek Reference.

Sierra Nevada Corp announced the name of the first Dream Chaser. Keep in mind that Dream Chaser is planned to be launched on top of a Vulcan rocket and the first space shuttle prototype name… you guessed it “Enterprise“. In the spirit of exploration, SNC announced the first Dream Chaser name as “Tenacity“. Sorry Star Trek Fans… you will not launch the Enterprise on Vulcan…

“Big News! SNC is naming its first orbital vehicle set to launch with NASA: Dream Chaser Tenacity! Without SNC’s tenacity, our Dream Chaser® spaceplane wouldn’t be what it is today. This name honors the grit, perseverance & hard work of the team. #NationalSpaceDay” SNC tweet May 2nd, 2020.

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