The Dream Chaser space plane, developed by Sierra Space and continuing its tests at NASA’s Armstrong Proving Ground, is about to make its first demonstration flight to the ISS. This marks a significant step in the commercial resupply program and underscores the ongoing space industrial revolution aimed at improving life on Earth.

With its nose up and bathed in soft blue light, Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spacecraft and Shooting Star cargo module cast dramatic shadows on the walls of NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Center in Sandusky, Ohio, as members of the media got their first glimpse of the towering plane. . 55-meter pile on February 1. The space plane and cargo module are undergoing tests at the base to prepare for the harsh conditions of space.

During a media event attended by Sierra Space’s general manager, Tom Weiss, Dr. “The Armstrong Test Complex is one of the most important assets of NASA Glenn Research Center,” said Jimmy Kenyon; Phil Dempsey, International Space Station Program Transportation Integration Manager; and former NASA astronaut and Sierra Space Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tom Marshburn was also present for interviews.

“Here we have some of the largest and most powerful simulation and testing facilities in the world to test the extreme conditions spacecraft will encounter during launch and flight.” —Dr. Jimmy Kenyon, director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland

“We have some of the world’s largest and most powerful simulation and testing facilities here to test the extreme conditions spacecraft will encounter during launch and flight,” Kenyon said. said.

Using the world’s most powerful spacecraft shaking system, NASA subjected Dream Chaser and Shooting Star to vibrations similar to those they would experience during launch and reentry.

Dream Chaser will then be transported to a massive ground-based vacuum chamber that will continue to simulate the outer space that Dream Chaser will encounter during its mission. The spacecraft will be exposed to low ambient pressure, low background temperature, and dynamic solar heating.

The test marks progress toward the first uncrewed Dream Chaser demonstration flight to the International Space Station later this year as part of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Program. Dream Chaser is expected to deliver more than 7,800 pounds of cargo on its maiden flight.

NASA’s collaboration with commercial industry leads to more people, science, and commercial opportunities for the benefit of humanity in space.

“Together with NASA and Sierra Space, we are going to space to benefit life on Earth.” — Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space

“Together with NASA and Sierra Space, we are going into space to benefit life on Earth,” Vice said. “The most important industrial revolution in history is taking place in space. You have to step back and take in everything you observe, the magnitude of what you observe; there are signs around us that we are now living in an orbital age.”