Dream Chaser inside Atlas 5
A Sierra Nevada Corp. Dream Chaser cargo spacecraft inside the payload fairing of a ULA Atlas 5 rocket. Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp.

Sierra Nevada Corporation will launch its first two Dream Chaser cargo vehicles on Atlas 5 rockets.

The company said Wednesday it signed a contract with United Launch Alliance for two Atlas 5 launches, in 2020 and 2021, of Dream Chaser spacecraft flying cargo missions to the ISS.

The Dream Chaser will launch on an Atlas 5 552, a version of the most powerful Atlas 5 variant with a dual-engine Centaur upper stage.

The selection of the Atlas 5 was expected, as Sierra Nevada previously planned to launch a version of Dream Chaser developed for NASA’s commercial crew program on an Atlas 5 as well. [ULA]


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Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science...