Midland International Air & Space Port Receives Dream Chaser® Spacecraft Compatible Landing Site Designation

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and the Midland Development Corporation (MDC) today announce that Midland International Air & Space Port is now considered a compatible landing site for SNC’s Dream Chaser spacecraft. Midland International Air & Space Port, located in Midland, Texas, has successfully completed the compatibility portion of the Dream Chaser Landing Site Designation process, which is the first step toward becoming an approved landing site for Dream Chaser spacecraft landings.

In order for the Dream Chaser spacecraft to obtain final approval to land at any airport or spaceport, SNC must receive a Part 435 Reentry License from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This license is issued to the vehicle operator and is paired to the landing site. With the successful completion of this first phase, Midland International Air & Space Port is one step closer to becoming an approved, licensed Dream Chaser landing site for commercial missions.

“Midland is already an FAA-licensed spaceport, making pursuit of Dream Chaser landing opportunities a logical next step,” said John Roth, vice president of Business Development and Strategy for SNC’s Space Systems. “We entered into an agreement to begin working on the Landing Site Designation earlier this year and are pleased to have successfully progressed in the process. Midland is now considered a compatible landing site for Dream Chaser commercial missions.”

The SNC Landing Site Designation

SNC developed the Landing Site Designation process to provide airports and spaceports around the world the opportunity to assess the feasibility of landing its Dream Chaser spacecraft on site. The SNC Landing Site Designation is the first of several steps required in order to become an FAA licensed landing site.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates Midland Spaceport’s continued commitment to furthering the commercial space industry on behalf of the City of Midland. Our goal is to one day see the Dream Chaser spacecraft land safely on our Midland International Air & Space Port runway,” said J. Ross Lacy, president of the Spaceport Development Board.

Dream Chaser Spacecraft 

Owned and operated by SNC, the Dream Chaser spacecraft is a reusable, multi-mission space utility vehicle (SUV). It is capable of transportation services to low-Earth orbit, where the International Space Station (ISS) resides, and is the only commercial, lifting-body vehicle capable of a runway landing. The Dream Chaser Cargo System was selected by NASA to provide cargo delivery and disposal services to the ISS under the Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract. All Dream Chaser CRS2 cargo missions are planned to land at Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility.

About Midland Development Corporation (MDC) 

The MDC promotes the City of Midland and incentivizes qualified employers who create and retain a diversified job market in the greater Midland, Texas, region. MDC promotes business expansion and job creation through an established business climate and a strong community. MDC is an effective steward of sales tax revenue to efficiently grow Midland’s economic stability and the quality of life.

About Sierra Nevada Corporation 

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) provides customer-focused technology solutions in the areas of aerospace, aviation, electronics and systems integration. SNC has been honored as one of “The World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Space,” and one of America’s fastest growing companies. SNC’s Space Systems business area based in Louisville, Colorado, designs and manufactures advanced spacecraft, space vehicles, rocket motors and spacecraft subsystems and components for the U.S. government, commercial customers, as well as for the international market. SNC has more than 25 years of space heritage, participating in more than 450 successful space missions and delivering 4,000+ systems, subsystems and components around the world.

For more information on SNC visit www.sncorp.com and follow us at Facebook.com/SierraNevCorp and Twitter @SierraNevCorp. Sierra Nevada Corporation and SNC are trademarks of Sierra Nevada Corporation.