Sierra Space takes artificial intelligence to U.S. Space Systems Command’s Space Domain Awareness TAP Lab Accelerator

Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company and defence tech prime that is Building a Platform in Space to Benefit Life on Earth has been selected to participate in the U.S. Space Systems Command’s Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Tools Applications and Processing (TAP) Lab Apollo Accelerator Cohort 4. 

Sierra Space will be working on AI and Machine Learning capabilities to proactively detect potentially dangerous events that could threaten friendly satellites in orbit.

The accelerator program is dedicated to enhancing space domain awareness and advancing space defence capabilities. It provides a vital platform for collaborating with industry experts, defence agencies and technology partners with the goal of improving the safety and security of space operations.

By joining Cohort 4, Sierra Space will work in parallel with other forward-thinking companies to address the key challenges in space defence. Throughout the program, Sierra Space will develop new Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning capabilities, ensuring that our country remains at the forefront of space domain awareness and defence innovation. Sierra Space shares the SDA’s commitment to safeguarding the future of space operations and exploration.

“At Sierra Space, we are deeply committed to revitalizing the U.S. defence industrial base,” said Sierra Space Chief Executive Officer, Tom Vice. “Our participation in the SDA TAP Lab underlines the work we are doing to develop and deploy Sierra Space Black OS, the next generation, highly scalable and secure software operating system powered by advanced AI.”

Sierra Space Ghost Enters Flight Test Enabling Global Payload Delivery in 90 Minutes

Sierra Space, a leading commercial space-tech company and next-generation defense-tech prime, building a platform in space to benefit life on Earth and protect the freedom of economic activity in the Orbital Age®, has successfully beta-tested a revolutionary new logistics spacecraft, Sierra Space Ghost.

This new technology propels Sierra Space into a new era of national security space and space logistics, promising to redefine the way critical defence supplies are delivered across the globe. The Sierra Space Ghost Beta decelerator, part of the company’s recently announced Sierra Space Axelerator™ incubator, is a cutting-edge thermal protection system tailored for the safe return of small payloads from space. 

Last month, the first drop test of the Sierra Space Ghost was completed in Florida, enabling Sierra Space test engineers to fully understand the flight characteristics of the system and how recovery operations can be rapidly completed on the ground.

“As we continue to innovate at speed, this test enables us to build, test, learn and accelerate the development of a revolutionary new operational asset for national security,” said Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space. “We envision having an inventory of Sierra Space Ghost vehicles strategically positioned and readily accessible and deployable within 90 minutes to critical locations anywhere on Earth. Sierra Space Ghost enables our customers to deliver vital resources to frontline personnel with unparalleled precision and speed.”

Sierra Space Dream Chaser® Spaceplane Successfully Completes First Phase of Pre-Flight Testing

Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company and emerging defence tech prime building a platform in space to benefit and protect life on Earth announced today the successful completion of the initial phase of environmental testing on the revolutionary Dream Chaser® spaceplane, Tenacity®, at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.

Over the past month, the Sierra Space Dream Chaser and its cargo companion, Shooting Star™, underwent rigorous vibration testing while stacked in launch configuration inside the Mechanical Vibration Facility at the NASA complex. In readiness for launch from Kennedy Space Center, the tests exposed the vehicles to the intense conditions of launch vibrations using the world’s most powerful spacecraft shaker table. See video here.

“We are coming out of years of development, years of hard work and years of resolving tough engineering challenges that come from revolutionary new ways of doing things,” said Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice. “This phase of development illustrates how Dream Chaser and the Shooting Star cargo module will handle the mechanical rigours of launch. This is the year that we transition from development and enter orbital operations – it is the year that changes how we connect space and earth.”

Sierra Space’s Revolutionary Dream Chaser Enters Final Test Campaign

Wings Are Back

Sierra Space’s Revolutionary Dream Chaser Enters Final Test Campaign, Spaceplane Transitioning to Orbital Operations.

Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space to benefit of life on Earth, has delivered the first Dream Chaser spaceplane, Tenacity, to NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.

Dream Chaser, the world’s only commercial spaceplane, has entered the final testing phase ahead of its first flight in 2024. The testing campaign will confirm the spacecraft’s resilience to the challenges of launch and the demanding conditions of space as it prepares for its inaugural mission to the International Space Station under a multi-mission NASA contract.

Dream Chaser joins Sierra Space’s cargo module, Shooting Star™, which arrived at the NASA test facility in November. The two vehicles are set to be stacked in launch configuration and undergo rigorous environmental testing starting in the Mechanical Vibration Facility. The test will subject them to the extreme conditions of launch vibrations on the world’s most powerful spacecraft shaker table.

Sierra Space is unwavering in its commitment to ensuring the utmost reliability of its cutting-edge technologies. Dream Chaser, crafted in tandem with the groundbreaking Shooting Star cargo module, will reinvent space transportation and usher in the burgeoning era of space commercialization known as the Orbital Age®.

“At Sierra Space, we are ushering in the next industrial revolution with a business and technology platform that provides our customers with a complete turn-key solution offering space as a service,” said Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice. “Our platform includes Dream Chaser, a revolutionary, highly reusable commercial spaceplane with global runway access, and the first business-ready commercial space station, leveraging the most advanced expandable structural architecture that will exponentially decrease the cost of product development and manufacturing in space.”

Sierra Space is Revolutionizing Space Transportation – Dream Chaser’s Unique Capabilities:

No More Plunging into the Ocean – Dream Chaser Uses the World’s Global Commercial Runways

Designed To Be Highly Reusable – Minimum 15 Missions Per System

Fully Autonomous Operations

High-Capacity Up Mass and Down Mass Payloads (Pressurized & Unpressurized)

Low G Landings – Better for Science, Cargo and Crew

Fast Access to Payloads and Science Upon Landing – Easy to Integrate into Ground Logistics

Breakthrough Green Hydrogen Peroxide-Based Propulsion System

Second Dream Chaser Vehicle, Reverence, In Production

Selected by a NASA contract:

Dream Chaser was selected by NASA for cargo delivery, return and disposal service for the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract.

Sierra Space Awarded Space Act Agreement with NASA

Sierra Space to work closely with NASA on key capabilities vital to unlocking the next generation of space travel.

Sierra Space, a leading, pure-play commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space, today was awarded a Space Act Agreement (SAA) by NASA under the second Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC-2) initiative.

Through the agreement, Sierra Space will provide NASA with valuable insight and collaboration into its crewed Dream Chaser® spaceplane; new commercial space station architectures; and in-space logistics, refuelling and servicing systems. NASA will advance deployment of Sierra Space’s platform and ecosystem by providing access to facilities and support for environmental and crew systems testing, tools and software.

This SAA award by NASA provides support to a “pathfinder” space station, which serves as a technology demonstration for key elements of commercial space stations. Such demonstrations are vital steps to ultimately designing objects intended for sustained commercial habitation in orbit. The SAA is set to begin while the systems are in the design and development phases and last for five years – through on-orbit deployment later this decade.

Dream Chaser, the world's first commercial spaceplane from Sierra Space powers up

Sierra Space, a commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space, has advised of the successful power-up of its revolutionary Dream Chaser spaceplane.

Dream Chaser is said to represent a groundbreaking leap in space transportation technology, designed to provide reliable and cost-effective access to space for a wide range of applications. With its unique lifting body design, the spaceplane combines the flexibility of an aircraft with the capabilities of a spacecraft, revolutionizing space travel.

The power-up of Dream Chaser signifies the activation of its integrated systems, showcasing the culmination of years of rigorous engineering, design, and testing. Sierra Space simulated the power that will be generated from Dream Chaser’s solar arrays once on orbit. Test engineers plugged that power into Dream Chaser and began turning on systems. Sierra Space exercised flight computers, base processors and low-voltage distribution units.

Sierra Space and the United States Department of Defense Transportation Command to develop revolutionary high-mach systems for terrestrial point-to-point delivery

Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company at the forefront of creating and building the future of space transportation and infrastructure for low-Earth orbit (LEO) commercialization, announced today the signing of a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement (CRADA) with the United States Department of Defense’s Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM). The two organizations will work together to develop solutions using Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser® spaceplanes, Shooting Star™ cargo modules, and on-orbit infrastructure that provides unique capabilities for precise, cost-effective and timely global delivery of Department of Defense logistics and personnel.

Both parties will collaboratively explore space transportation as a new mode of point-to-point global terrestrial delivery of materiel and personnel, as an alternative and complement to traditional air, land and surface modes for Department of Defense global supply chains. Additionally, the agreement outlines plans to identify current capabilities and maturity of Sierra Space’s space transportation methods, as well as both observed and projected risks, benefits and additional research and development needed as a result.

Sierra Space and Spaceport America sign agreement on landing site for Dream Chaser

Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company at the forefront of creating and building the future of space transportation and infrastructure for low-Earth orbit (LEO) commercialization, and Spaceport America announced today the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The agreement adds the world-class New Mexico spaceport to Sierra Space’s portfolio of potential global landing sites for its Dream Chaser, the world’s first and only winged commercial spaceplane.

Spaceport America, located in southern New Mexico, is the most recent addition to a growing list of compatible runways worldwide where the Dream Chaser could land, including the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and airports and landing sites in Huntsville, Alabama, Oita Airport, Japan, and Spaceport Cornwall in the United Kingdom.

Dream Chaser is a multi-mission space utility vehicle designed for transporting crew and cargo to and from LEO destinations, including the International Space Station (ISS). The spaceplane is currently under contract with NASA for seven commercial resupply missions to the ISS providing cargo delivery, return and waste disposal services. It is the only commercial spacecraft capable of low-g earth return to compatible commercial runways worldwide, allowing immediate access to high-value payloads. Dream Chaser is set to launch in 2023.

“Sierra Space is building the future of space – from transportation to commercial space destinations and all of the emerging applications – to develop a vibrant, growing and accessible commercial space economy,” said Sierra Space CEO, Tom Vice. “With that vision in mind, we are creating space-tech hubs within the commercial space ecosystem and adding Spaceport America as a prospective landing site for Dream Chaser to continue to open up affordable access to space for all.”

The new MOU outlines the two organizations’ mutual pursuit to increase Spaceport America’s capabilities and demand for Dream Chaser reentry at the spaceport. As a result, in line with their shared vision, both parties will pursue a Part 433 reentry site operator’s license for Spaceport America from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Dream Chaser is currently under contract to perform cargo supply and return missions for NASA starting in 2023, delivering up to 12,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) at a time.

“Spaceport America is enormously proud to combine efforts with Sierra Space,” added Scott McLaughlin, Executive Director of Spaceport America. “As a potential landing site for the Dream Chaser spaceplane, we will continue to open affordable access to space for all in the United States and the world. We are excited to expand the partnership and working relationship with Sierra Space. This MOU also helps highlight the vision for Spaceport America and to help connect other users of both the spaceport and the Dream Chaser to New Mexico.”

Sierra Space is a diamond-level sponsor of the Spaceport America Cup, the world’s largest intercollegiate rocket engineering competition. Additionally, Sierra Space president and former astronaut, Dr. Janet Kavandi, will deliver opening remarks at the event, which is set to take place June 21, 2022 to June 25, 2022.

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Sierra Space & Spirit AeroSystems form strategic partnership to introduce affordable space systems to the market

Sierra Space and Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. has announced the formation of a long-term strategic partnership intended to accelerate access to a vibrant commercial space economy of the future.

Spirit Defense & Space will assist in the development and production of future affordable Shooting Star Transport Vehicles under a Letter of Intent signed between the two companies. The agreement also provides for the two companies to work together to develop innovative technologies and processes to accelerate Sierra Space’s expanding Dream Chaser family of scalable spaceplanes to the market.

Sierra Space is a leading commercial space company at the forefront of creating and building the future of space transportation and infrastructure for low-Earth orbit commercialization. Using Sierra Space’s growing range of space transportation, infrastructure and associated technologies, the company intends to expand access to the space economy for other commercial entities and enable the discoveries and innovations of the future.

Spirit Defense & Space will work with Sierra Space to enhance accessibility and efficiency of the Sierra Space Shooting Star cargo module system to advance a family of cargo and service modules for on-orbit services. The collaboration combines the strength of Sierra Space’s advanced space technology expertise with Spirit AeroSystem’s renowned aerospace industrialization proficiencies. Visit Shooting Star Cargo Module to view a time-lapse of the first module’s construction.

“Through this long-term partnership, Sierra Space is delighted to begin work with Tom’s team at Spirit AeroSystems, widely recognized as leaders in the aerospace industry and aligned with our vision of an accessible and vibrant space economy,” said Sierra Space CEO, Tom Vice. “Working with Spirit Defense & Space, we will broaden access to tomorrow’s space economy; lowering the cost of entry and increasing the speed to market of Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser franchise. Together we will accelerate the commercialization of space.”

Space......."Dreams Worth Chasing"

Sierra Space has launched a new publicity campaign as part of its transformation plans called “Dreams Worth Chasing”.  This new initiative aims to honour those who have the courage to dream big dreams, the tenacity to chase their dreams even when others say it cannot be done, and those who achieved their big dreams and changed everything.

Sierra Space is a commercial space company trying to create and build the future of space transportation and infrastructure for low Earth orbit (LEO). Its commercialization Matthew Clarke, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications is leading this rebranding initiative.  “Our ‘Dreams Worth Chasing’ campaign and distinct brand identity will depict Sierra Space as an independent company, a leader in the fast-emerging and developing commercial space economy and a team focused on advancing humanity’s presence in space to benefit life on Earth,

The innovative work of the Sierra Space team and the resulting possibilities for our planet are an inspiration for any marketing and communications team and it is our privilege to share their story with the world.”

"Sierra Space is committed to empowering people and businesses to pursue humanity’s next great chapter,” said Tom Vice, Sierra Space CEO. “We are so pleased to have Matt join our senior leadership team during this inflexion point in time for Sierra Space, as we are poised for tremendous growth in this thrilling year ahead for our company.”

Following Sierra Space’s historic Series A $1.4 billion growth investment and $4.5 billion valuations from late last year, led by General Atlantic, Coatue and Moore Strategic Ventures, with participation from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock Private Equity Partners and AE Industrial Partners, Sierra Space’s new look signify a revamped drive to continue innovating, developing and commercializing space to make it affordable and accessible to all.

Sierra Space also recently outlined plans for an extensive recruitment drive that will nearly double its labor force and create 1,000 net new jobs in 2022 with the majority of positions being in Colorado and also distributed to other locations in Wisconsin, Florida and North Carolina.

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Sierra Space Hiring 1,000 New Employees

The 1,000 new positions will support the development of Dream Chaser, the world’s first commercial spaceplane

Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company has outlined plans for an extensive recruitment drive that will see the company significantly increase its headcount by nearly doubling its labour force and creating 1,000 net new jobs this year.

The majority of the positions will be in Colorado, with new roles distributed across the Sierra Space facilities in Louisville, Colo. and South Metro Denver. Sierra Space will also be increasing its workforce across the company’s other locations, including in Madison, Wis., Brevard County, Fla. and Durham, N.C., as work accelerates towards the launch of the Dream Chaser spaceplane.

At present, more than 700 new positions, including more than 400 in engineering, are listed on the company’s Careers webpage, with additional new job opportunities expected to be posted between now and mid-2022.