Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the global aerospace and national security leader owned by Chairwoman and President Eren Ozmen and CEO Fatih Ozmen, in cooperation with partners OHB System AG (OHB) and 4Space, delivered a feasibility report to the European Space Agency (ESA) on utilizing SNC’s Dream Chaser® spacecraft as a platform for European microgravity missions in lieu of the International Space Station (ISS).
“We are proud to be working with ESA and our international business partners on the many ways Dream Chaser can fulfill future European mission requirements, “ said SNC’s owner and CEO Fatih Ozmen. “Our relationships with ESA and leading European aerospace companies date back many years and with the first flight of the Dream Chaser ahead, we are pleased to offer critical infrastructure to enable and sustain a vibrant lower-Earth orbit (LEO) space economy.”
The study looked at scenarios for European microgravity missions in LEO on the premise the ISS will eventually be either decommissioned or turned over primarily to commercial operators. The study reviewed technical, programmatic, financial and market aspects of an architecture based on the Dream Chaser.
Known as America’s Spaceplane™, the Dream Chaser can be customized for both domestic and international customers through vehicle configuration, selection of launch vehicle, orbital destination, landing site and a host of other variables. It can also be used as either a free-flyer or a logistics element to serve orbital destinations in LEO. The vehicle’s low-g runway landing is also critical to safely and gently delivering sensitive science and experiments back to Earth.
SNC is currently working with multiple international space agencies and developing technologies, applications and missions for Dream Chaser-based space systems to make space affordable and accessible around the globe. For more information, visit www.SNCorp.com.
About Dream Chaser Spacecraft
Owned and operated by SNC, the Dream Chaser spacecraft is a reusable, multi-mission space utility vehicle. It is capable of transportation services to and from low-Earth orbit 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 International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract. All Dream Chaser CRS-2 cargo missions are planned to land at Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility.
About Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC)
Owned by Chairwoman and President Eren Ozmen and CEO Fatih Ozmen, SNC is a trusted leader in solving the world’s toughest challenges through best-of-breed, open architecture engineering in Space Systems, Commercial Solutions, and National Security and Defense. SNC is recognized among the three most innovative U.S. companies in space, 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.
