'Dream Team' Grows To Include Additional Industry, University, Global Partners

Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Dream Chaser Space System is progressing through its flight test program and critical design review. As SNC’s Dream Chaser program enters its next phase, SNC is pleased to announce its expanded Dream Chaser - Dream Team - which includes prominent heritage aerospace industry members, small and disadvantaged businesses, as well as university and international space agency partners. Between these additional organizations and its long-term members, SNC continues to build one of the most competent and capable space industry program teams in the world. The growing employment scope and economic impact of the Dream Chaser program now involves 32 states and over 50 congressional districts and is expected to continue to expand as the program matures.

The Dream Chaser Dream Team consists of vital aerospace industry members, which have or are providing key support over the life of the program including such distinguished companies as Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance, Draper Laboratory, Aerojet Rocketdyne, MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates Ltd. (MDA), UTC Aerospace Systems, Jacobs, Moog Broad Reach, Siemens PLM Software, Southwest Research Institute, and many others. SNC was built on the premise of creating strong partnership opportunities. As a majority women-owned company, SNC is proud that the Dream Team also includes a number of companies categorized as small and disadvantaged businesses that have or are supporting the program such as Craig Technologies, David Clark Company, Special Aerospace Services, AdamWorks, and Artic Slope Research Corporation.

SNC also is creating significant opportunities for the next generation of aerospace professionals by working cooperatively with nine U.S. universities, including the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Maryland - College Park, Rice Space Institute, Tuskegee University, and Utah State University. SNC conducts key primary research and testing at these prestigious educational centers. The company also recruits interns and young professionals to actively engage the next generation in practical work in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math. The goal of these recruiting efforts is to harness the most innovative minds across the country for the Dream Chaser program.

In addition, SNC’s reimbursable space act agreements allow the Dream Team to work with the talented personnel at nine NASA Centers and facilities. SNC agreements are currently in place with the following NASA Centers: Ames Research Center in California, Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, Glenn Research Center in Ohio, Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, Johnson Space Center in Texas, Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Langley Research Center in Virginia and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama including the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana. The company has also used the landing facilities at Edwards Air Force Base and is actively negotiating launch and landing agreements with Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

SNC has established cooperative agreements with the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and most recently, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA.) These agencies collectively represent 21 spacefaring countries with a heritage of success that includes hundreds of missions and adds significantly to the Dream Chaser program, both in terms of opportunity and sustainability. SNC and these agencies will cooperate to explore potential low-Earth orbit missions and in doing so will follow the very successful model of global cooperation set by the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS brings together international flight crews, launch vehicles and launch operations, training, engineering, research and a vibrant international scientific research community.

“We are enormously fortunate to have forged a Dream Team with the best of U.S. industry, universities, international agencies and global companies to be engaged on our Dream Chaser program,” said Mark N. Sirangelo, corporate vice president of SNC’s Space Systems. “At SNC, our goal has been to create a Dream Chaser program that includes the leading organizations from across the United States and internationally brought together for the successful future of low-Earth orbit transportation and human space travel. This combined Dream Team is poised to provide safe, affordable, and sustained orbital transportation to enable discovery, development, and dynamic opportunities for the long-term in space.”

SNC is working with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program under an existing space act agreement to develop a safe, innovative, modern, flexible and highly-capable commercial transportation system for the 21st Century. Once developed, Dream Chaser will provide the only reusable, human-rated lifting-body spacecraft with a commercial runway landing capability, anywhere in the world, and is on the forefront of the commercial human spaceflight industry, offering safe, reliable and cost-effective crew and critical cargo transportation to low-Earth orbit.

(Images provided by Sierra Nevada Corp)

FMI: www.sncspace.com