Retro Sierra Space’s Historic Commercial Spaceplane Sets for 2025

Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser cargo spaceplane has demonstrated that it can handle payloads after passing a major milestone as it’s readied for its debut orbital mission.

Cargo missions to the International Space Station (ISS) are as common, one of these looks very different from others. Dream Chaser is a retro-futuristic spacecraft with a mixture of the old and new, which looks very different from the capsules and cans that have been used up until now.

Sierra Space’s spaceplane looks like a blast from the past. It is not only a spaceplane like the NASA Space Shuttle that lifts off atop a conventional rocket booster and lands back on Earth using a conventional runway, but it’s also inspired by NASA’s HL-20 Personnel Launch System spaceplane concept of the 1980s.

The spaceplane is a descendant of the X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane that the US Air Force used for its missions back in the 1960s.

The spaceplane was originally a contender for ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS, but after losing out to SpaceX and Boeing, it was converted to an uncrewed cargo version called the Dream Chaser Cargo System (DCCS). 

The current version removed the passenger area that helped to expand the cargo module mounted with solar panels and the capability of taking 11,000 lb (5,000 kg) of pressurized cargo and 1,100 lb (500 kg) of unpressurized cargo to orbit and returning 3,860 lb (1,750 kg) of cargo to Earth with maximum re-entry forces of 1.5 g, making it a vital asset for both commercial and governmental missions.

The recent Joint Test 10B in Louisville, Colorado demonstrated the Dream Chaser can handle payloads under specified conditions, including the ability to supply them with power, air-cool them, and handle data between the payloads and Earth.

Three payloads are tested, including the Polar cryogenic preservation system for transporting scientific samples, the Powered Ascent Utility Locker (PAUL) for charging CubeSats during ascent, and NASA’s Single Stowage Locker, which is a standard stowage system for experiments and other payloads.

Sierra Space proudly describes it as the only commercial runway-capable spaceplane becoming a groundbreaking achievement in space exploration. The first orbital flight of Dream Chaser is scheduled for no earlier than May 2025.

Image source by Sierra Space