Sierra Space Inc.’s Dream Chaser spaceplane is no longer on the roster of United Launch Alliance’s second Vulcan Centaur flight due to schedule delays, with an “idle payload” taking its place, the rocket company said Wednesday.
Sierra has reportedly told ULA that it has a “high risk” in setting a launch date for September and that it will “stand aside” so the rocket company can move forward with certification from the Department of Defense, ULA CEO Torey Bruno said during a news conference. . . ULA is no doubt eager to move forward with this second, high-risk launch: It’s the final step before the new missile is certified for Department of Defense (DOD) national security missions. ULA conducted its first Vulcan mission at the beginning of the year.
The company also plans to launch technology “experiments and demonstrations” alongside the inert payload, though Bruno did not expand on what those experiments might be during the press conference.
The rocket company also plans to launch at least two more Vulcan missions before the end of the year. These two national security missions, called USSF-106 and USSF-87, are the first in a series of backlog launches that ULA has under contract with the Department of Defense.
In a separate statement, Sierra Space said that despite the slide, its first Dream Chaser spaceplane, called Tenacity, remains on track for its first mission before the end of the year. Tenacity, along with the Shooting Star expendable cargo module, completed environmental testing, a series of tests that ensure the vehicle will survive the rigors of launch and orbit, at the beginning of May. The aircraft was delivered to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at the end of that month, where it is now undergoing final testing before launch.
Unlike SpaceX’s Dragon or Boeing’s Starliner, the 30-foot Dream Chaser is designed to land horizontally on the runway, similar to NASA’s retired space shuttle. The spaceplane was designed to deliver cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station for NASA, but has been severely delayed. In 2016, Sierra Space acquired Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) from the agency, and the company is expected to begin performing those missions in late 2019.
On its maiden mission, the first of seven missions under the CRS-2 contract, Dream Chaser will deliver 7,800 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station. It will spend a total of 45 days attached to the station before returning to Florida for inspection, refurbishment and reuse.
Sierra also plans to launch a manned version of the Dream Chaser, as well as an inflatable habitation module that could be operated in low Earth orbit as a private space station. The company has raised $1.7 billion so far to expand the scope of its various space projects.