We all knew that reality would one day catch up to the imaginations of science fiction lovers everywhere.
And the day when a ship that looks like it belongs in Star Wars launches into the universe appears to be right around the corner.
The ship is the Dream Chaser, designed and built by space company Sierra Space. It has retractable wings and a fuselage that resembles a sleep space shuttle.
It’s not just in the conception phase, either; it’s at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center preparing for its first voyage to the ISS.
The craft has already undergone “rigorous environmental testing” and is on track to launch in September 2024.
Dream Chaser Tenacity measures 30 feet long by 15 feet wide. Its unique lifting body design will allow it to transport cargo to and from low Earth orbit and to maintain the ability to land on a runway similar to @NASA's space shuttle. pic.twitter.com/7mZMFz9Sji
— Sierra Space (@SierraSpaceCo) May 30, 2024
The launch is ostensibly to test cargo capabilities, but in the future, chief medical officer Tom Marshburn says they plan to put astronauts aboard.
“Oh, it’s a possibility I might be flying; it’s a possibility you could be a passenger as well.”
The shuttle, called Tenacity, is the product of over 20 years of hard work, and it still has to pass a long list of tests before it will be allowed to blast off into space.
To help understand the Dream Chaser® spaceplane’s hypersonic aerodynamics before our ETA test flight in 2017, this 6% stainless steel scale model was tested at speeds up to Mach 14. The test included the use of rudder and wing actuation. pic.twitter.com/dMvOriv8YT
— Sierra Space (@SierraSpaceCo) June 25, 2024
NASA has contracted Dream Chaser to fly seven cargo missions to the ISS. It’s a renewable alternative to SpaceX’s Dragon cargo shuttle and can glide back to Earth, landing on any 10,000-foot runway.
Though the engineer’s at Sierra Space built on decades of expertise garnered by US and Soviet space exploration, this is the first private spaceplane ever built.
Some additions still need to be made, so we will have to wait and see whether or not the September deadline will come to pass.
But when it does go up, all eyes will be trained on Kennedy.
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