NASA, Sierra Space Invite Media to See Spaceplane for Cargo Missions

As part of NASA’s efforts to expand commercial resupply in low Earth orbit, media are invited to view Sierra Space’s uncrewed commercial spaceplane ahead of its first demonstration flight for the agency to the International Space Station in 2024.

The Dream Chaser event is scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 1, at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.

For the first time, the spaceplane is coupled with its companion Shooting Star cargo module in a 55-foot-tall vertical stack for environmental testing in the Mechanical Vibration Facility at Armstrong Test Facility’s Space Environments Complex.

During the event, the following officials will provide brief remarks about the agency’s efforts to enable commercial industry, the unique capabilities of the NASA test facility, as well as share more about Dream Chaser and its ongoing testing at NASA Glenn:

• Dr. Jimmy Kenyon, director, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland
• Tom Vice, chief executive officer, Sierra Space

A question-and-answer session will follow remarks. Dr. Tom Marshburn, former NASA astronaut and chief medical officer for Sierra Space, also will be in attendance and available for interviews.

Media interested in attending must RSVP by 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, to Brian Newbacher at brian.t.newbacher@nasa.gov or 216-433-5644.

Attendance is in-person only and limited to participants, invited guests, and credentialed media.

Dream Chaser and its cargo module are undergoing testing on NASA’s spacecraft shaker table, exposing the stack to vibrations like those it will experience during launch and re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere. Armstrong Test Facility is part of NASA Glenn. Located on 6,400 acres, it is home to some of the world’s largest and most capable space simulation test facilities, where ground tests are conducted for the U.S. and international space and aeronautics communities.

In 2016, NASA awarded a Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract to Sierra Space to resupply the International Space Station with its Dream Chaser spaceplane and companion Shooting Star cargo module. NASA is opening access to space to more science by enabling commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station for the crew members aboard the microgravity laboratory. The agency is helping build a low Earth orbit economy where NASA is one of many customers of U.S. private industry for cargo, crew, and space destinations for the benefit of humanity. As NASA transitions low Earth orbit to industry, the agency also is returning to the Moon as part of Artemis in preparation for Mars.

Learn more about Dream Chaser at:

https://go.nasa.gov/3Oe9wi0

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Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov

Brian Newbacher
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
216-433-5644
brian.t.newbacher@nasa.gov

Leah Cheshier 
Johnson Space Center, Houston 
281-483-5111  
leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov