Commercial Space – Part Four

Now we move onto the NASA Commercial Crew Development (CCDev/CCDev2) providers.

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC)

SNC are currently working on the Dream Chaser spacecraft, designed to lift off on top a man-rated launcher with Delta-V as the current preferred booster.  The craft is designed to transport up to seven astronauts as well as cargo.  Exact weight’s are not currently available.

Artist's illustration of the Dream Chaser crew transportation vehicle docked to the ISS. Source: Sierra Nevada Space Systems 2010

The ship will dock with the space station and then glide back to a landing once the mission is complete. Due to it’s design it should be able to land at any commercial airstrip and unlike the Space Shuttle it’s reaction control system uses ethanol and therefore can be handled immediately after landing.

Dream Chaser has several other advantages over the shuttle, first it is designed to last as long as 210 days in space, where as the shuttle only allowed a couple of weeks.  Second the heat shield is made up of ablative tiles ( created by NASA ) which can be replaced in large groups and don’t need to be replaced as often.

As with the COTS program CCDev and CCDev2 are milestone driven programs, SNC have recently announced that they have achieved several of the early milestones and are working towards drop tests using Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo aircraft in 2012.

With the creation of the CCDev/CCDev2 programs the future for spaceflight is very exciting and will only result in cheaper missions for everyone.


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