Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser commercial lifting-body spacecraft landing

Sierra Nevada continues to make progress on its Dream Chaser spaceplane.

On 10 July, Sierra Nevada completed acquisition of Orbital Technologies Corporation (Orbitec), which has been developing life-support and thermal management systems for Dream Chaser. Orbitec is also expected to play a key role in development of Dream Chaser propulsion.

Orbitec has developed a new engine technology called the VCCW (“vortex combustion cold-wall”) thrust chamber, which can be applied to hybrid or liquid-propellant rocket engines. There has been some speculation that Sierra Nevada might use this new technology to improve the performance of the Dream Chaser’s hybrid rocket motor. However, Charles Lurio of The Lurio Report suggests that Sierra Nevada plans to abandon the hybrid motor in favor of a liquid-propellant (nitrous oxide/propane) rocket engine, which would be developed by Orbitec using the VCCW chamber. The advantages of this engine would include better performance, more consistent thrust, easier thrust-vector control, and better reusability.

On 23 July, Sierra Nevada announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Sierra Nevada will work with JAXA on potential applications of Japanese technologies and the development of mission concepts for Dream Chaser. Sierra Nevada and JAXA will also explore the possibility of launching and landing Dream Chaser in Japan.

Sierra Nevada previously signed similar agreements with the European Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center.

Sierra Nevada touts Dream Chaser as “the only lifting-body, low-g reentry spacecraft with the capability to land on commercial runways, anywhere in the world.” Dream Chaser is being marketed as a “multi-mission space utility vehicle” able to “retrieve, repair, replace, assemble or deploy items in space” as well as servicing the International Space Station.

[Update: Sierra Nevada has announced the completion of the first Dream Chaser structural component by subcontractor Lockheed Martin.]

Written by Astro1 on July 30th, 2014 , Sierra Nevada

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