Latest news with #DreamChaser
Gizmodo
6 days ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
The World's First Commercial Spaceplane Won't Be Launching Anytime Soon
The highly anticipated launch of the Dream Chaser spaceplane may be delayed yet again as Sierra Space continues to test its experimental vehicle. The inaugural Dream Chaser, named Tenacity, is slated for a launch date in 2025. However, recent comments by a NASA official revealed that there's a lot more work to be done before the spaceplane is ready to fly to the International Space Station and that it's highly unlikely to meet its deadline. 'We still have some of our integrated safety reviews to do, and we're in the process with updating both of our schedules to try to understand where does that really put us,' Dana Weigel, the program manager for the ISS, said during a recent media briefing, according to Aerospace America. 'Sierra's working on that, and so I need to wait and just get information back from them to see where they think some of that work lines out.' Dream Chaser has been years in the making. NASA awarded Sierra Space a Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract in 2016 to provide at least seven cargo deliveries to the ISS. The Colorado-based company originally intended for Dream Chaser's inaugural flight to take place in 2020, but the spaceplane suffered several delays due to technical issues and certification hurdles. Although its 2025 launch date still appears on NASA's schedule, Weigel's recent comments don't sound too promising. Dream Chaser is designed to launch to low Earth orbit atop a rocket but survive atmospheric reentry and perform runway landings on the surface upon its return, similar to NASA's Space Shuttle. The futuristic-looking vehicle has foldable wings that fully unfurl once it's in flight, generating power through solar arrays. The spaceplane is also equipped with heat shield tiles to protect it from the high temperatures of atmospheric reentry. 'I think everyone really underestimates what it takes to put together a complex spacecraft. I mean, you're watching it right now with Boeing Starliner, you're watching it with Sierra, but if we remind ourselves on average it takes eight to 10 years for a spacecraft to get ready and fly,' Weigel told reporters during the briefing. Apart from SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, NASA hasn't had any luck in moving forward with an alternative means of transportation for its crew and cargo to the ISS. Following lessons learned from Boeing's Starliner fiasco, which left a crew stranded on the space station for nine months, NASA may be taking extra precaution before launching Tenacity to the ISS. One of the remaining tasks to be completed before its debut launch is a certification of Dream Chaser's software. Starliner experienced significant software issues during its first orbital test flight in December 2019, which pointed to problems with the spacecraft's software certification. Another hurdle that stands in Dream Chaser's way to space is its designated launch vehicle. For its debut flight, Tenacity will launch atop United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket. The 200-foot-tall (61-meter) rocket experienced a booster anomaly during its second flight in October 2024, which delayed its certification process for national security missions. Vulcan is still awaiting certification from the U.S. Space Force and has a backed-up schedule to attend to once it's ready to fly those missions. Dream Chaser is the next-generation reincarnation of Space Shuttle that spaceflight enthusiasts have been waiting for, but they may have to wait a little bit longer to see it fly.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sierra Space's $45M power station can build a solar panel a day and a satellite wing a week
Sierra Space, the company behind the in-development Dream Chaser spaceplane, announced a technology center expansion that will allow it to scale its solar power systems manufacturing. The $45 million power station facility in Broomfield, Colorado, will focus on manufacturing the company's Surface Mount Technology (SMT) solar arrays—compact, resilient, and built with commercial pick-and-place electronics tech. The result: power systems that are scalable from 10 watts to 10 kilowatts, with fast lead times and high durability. Sierra Space's new facility spans 70,000 square feet and features integrated testing capabilities, including a thermal vacuum chamber, air chamber, and dynamics lab. According to the company, the SMT solar cells are attached to Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and are assembled using "standard commercial electronics pick-and-place technology." "Sierra Space is re-industrializing the space-defense technology sector," Sierra Space Vice President Erik Daehler explained in the press statement. "We have the ability to build a solar panel a day and a wing a week. We plan to deliver 40 satellite wings in the first phase of production and are scaling up to 100 satellite wings per year by our full rate of production." "Additionally, because of our unique architecture, our solar arrays are more resilient," Daehler continued. "The Power Station is a proof point in our dedication to support national security." The solar arrays will play a critical role in Sierra Space Defense, the company's new division focused on supplying technologies to the US government. That includes powering satellites built at its recently announced "Victory Works" facility. Sierra Space says 100 team members are currently working at the Power Station, and it will continue to create new job opportunities as it expands. Space missions require increasingly efficient arrays capable of harvesting more energy with lower-weight solutions. "Using state-of-the art tools and integration equipment, our engineering and production teams have the expertise and experience to define, analyze, build, and test complete solar array systems," explained Brian Anthony, Vice President of Spacecraft Systems at Sierra Space. "Our scalable power systems can be tailored to fit a wide variety of mission options with reduced cycle time and risk by incorporating existing qualified and flight-proven designs." "With this new production facility coming online, Sierra Space is ready to meet the needs of the rapidly emerging satellite constellation market and deliver space power at lightning speed," Anthony continued. Sierra Space is one of a growing list of companies looking to change the way we operate in Earth's orbit. The company is developing the Dream Chaser spaceplane, which will eventually fly astronauts to the International Space Station. The spacecraft will also eventually fly astronauts to Sierra Space and Blue Origin's in-development private space station, Orbital Reef.
GSM Arena
14-06-2025
- GSM Arena
vivo Y400 Pro's official teaser confirms its design
The vivo Y400 Pro, which we've been hearing about for the past few days, is "coming soon." This revelation comes from vivo's Indian branch, which dropped a short video clip that corroborates previous design leaks by showing the Y400 Pros' rear side. You can see the vivo Y400 Pro in white color with a circular ring and two cameras on the back. vivo didn't divulge anything else about the Y400 Pro, but had listed the smartphone on its website a few days ago, along with its specs and images. For those who don't just dream—but dare, do, and dominate. 💫 This is for the ones who chase their dreams The all new vivo Y400 Pro - Coming soon#vivoY400Pro #vivoYseries #ItsMyStyle #DreamChaser — vivo India (@Vivo_India) June 13, 2025 According to the Amazon listing, which is now removed, the white-colored Y400 Pro is called Freestyle White. The smartphone will come with the Dimensity 7300 SoC, a 6.77" AMOLED screen, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, and a 5,500 mAh battery with 90W charging support. vivo Y400 Pro's images listed on The vivo Y400 Pro will feature a 32MP selfie camera on the front, and on the rear will be a 50MP primary camera (IMX882), joined by a 2MP auxiliary unit. Rumors claim the vivo Y400 Pro will also have a 256GB storage model, with the AMOLED panel having a peak brightness of 4,500 nits. We should hear about the Y400 Pro's launch date from vivo soon.
Time of India
08-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Trump vs Musk: Nasa, Pentagon rattled by ISS threat- officials warn space program caught in feud
Nasa logo, left, and Elon Musk (Image credits: AP) Nasa and the Pentagon moved quickly this past week to contact alternative spaceflight providers after a public spat between US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk raised new fears about the government's reliance on SpaceX . The situation escalated when Musk, responding to Trump's threat to cancel SpaceX contracts, said he would halt flights of the Dragon spacecraft, Nasa's only current vehicle for sending astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Though Musk later walked back the statement, it sent shockwaves through US space and defense agencies. Following the exchange, Nasa and the Pentagon contacted several commercial companies, including Rocket Lab, Stoke Space, and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, about the readiness of their launch systems, according to The Washington Post. Officials at Sierra Space, developing the Dream Chaser spaceplane, confirmed Nasa had reached out and emphasised the agency's interest in avoiding reliance on a single provider. Meanwhile, Boeing's Starliner, originally intended as a backup to Dragon, remains grounded due to technical problems. Officials at Nasa and the Pentagon were alarmed by what they viewed as a sudden and impulsive move, underscoring the vulnerability of depending on a single provider. SpaceX, which holds billions in government contracts, is responsible for ferrying cargo and crew to the ISS and launching some of the military's most sensitive satellites. One Nasa official described the moment as shifting 'from entertaining to terrifying,' while a Pentagon staffer noted, 'This is a real issue, not a TV show.' The feud also appeared to be fueled by the administration's withdrawal of Jared Isaacman's nomination as Nasa administrator. Isaacman, closely linked to Musk, had previously flown with SpaceX. Nasa has long worked closely with SpaceX, despite previous concerns about Musk's behavior. But the latest episode prompted renewed debate about whether critical systems like national missile defense and astronaut transport should be entrusted to a company, or person, capable of making such sweeping decisions unilaterally.
The Verge
21-05-2025
- Science
- The Verge
The pursuit of better drugs through orbital space crystals
In The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton wrote about killer alien space crystals that are (spoiler alert) ultimately stymied by Earth's breadth of pH values. In reality, crystals grown in space could be key to a new generation of cancer-fighting treatments that save lives, not threaten them. Colorado-based startup Sierra Space is nearly ready to launch its reusable space plane, Dream Chaser. It's set to carry into orbit a 3-D printed module designed by engineers at pharma giant Merck. If the test goes well, and if Dream Chaser's gentle reentry process keeps that sensitive cargo safe, this could be the start of something big — despite those crystals being microscopic. A brief history of space crystals Space crystals sound like something an astrology guru would hang over their bed to help them sleep, but there's real science here. According to the ISS National Lab, crystals grown in space are simply better: 'Scientists hypothesize that these observed benefits result from a slower, more uniform movement of molecules into a crystalline lattice in microgravity.' Research into monoclonal antibodies points towards crystallization as being key for developing more stable, subcutaneous delivery mechanisms. Theoretically, expensive chemotherapy sessions could be replaced by injections that a patient could self-administer at home. It's the stuff of science fiction — and in the case of The Andromeda Strain, it literally is — but the truth is actually closer to Back to the Future. Space crystal research actually began in the early '80s, first on one-off rocket flights and eventually on the Space Shuttle. Space crystal research actually began in the early '80s There was much hope (and hype) about the tech back then, but it was ultimately stymied by two things. The first is cost. The Space Shuttle orbiter was to be America's low-cost orbital research transporter, but that never panned out. NASA's own per-mission costs pegged each flight at somewhere around $1.5 billion. That's simply far too expensive, even in the pharma industry, where reporting quarterly profits often requires seven or more digits. The rise of SpaceX and its competitors has brought those costs down substantially, lowering the cost of getting cargo into space to a relatively paltry $2,000 per kg. But that still leaves the other problem: shock. If you're going all the way to orbit just to grow some ultrafine structures, you don't want to rattle them to pieces on the way back down. 'It's about a 20 mph car crash equivalent into the ground,' Dr. Tom Marshburn said of the experience of landing in a capsule like Dragon. He would know. Marshburn is chief astronaut at Sierra and the company's VP of human factors engineering, but before that he was a NASA astronaut. He's flown on the Shuttle, Soyuz, and Dragon. Sierra and its reusable Dream Chaser aircraft stand poised to fix both problems, cost and shock, in one fell swoop. Easy entry Those of us of a certain age will likely feel a sort of irrational affinity for Dream Chaser at first glance. Its black and white color scheme and simple, lifting body design give strong Space Shuttle orbiter vibes, but this is no retro design intended to earn throwback cred. Dream Chaser has some major advantages over Shuttle. For one thing, it's much smaller, about one-quarter the length. It fits neatly inside a payload compartment of a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Vulcan rocket, not requiring the messy combination of tanks, liquid and solid fuel boosters, and endless specialized hardware that stymied any hope the Space Shuttle had in being profitable. It also doesn't require a three-mile-long runway like the Shuttle. 'It can do a precision landing anywhere a 737 can land,' Dr. Marshburn said. 'It can do a precision landing anywhere a 737 can land.' The biggest change, though, is that it won't fly with crew onboard. For now, at least. Dream Chaser was born out of the Commercial Crew Transportation Capabilities (CCtCap) contract, a competition that also included SpaceX's Dragon capsule and Boeing's Starliner capsule. NASA selected two winners, and Sierra Space was unlucky to place third. However, seeing the potential, NASA offered enough orbital cargo contracts to make a Dream Chaser reboot worthwhile. A subtly redesigned space plane will launch and land as planned, just minus the people. Why did NASA want to keep Sierra Space in the loop? Dream Chaser's design offers some real benefits, particularly as we potentially enter an age of space manufacturing. 'A capsule like a Dragon, by the nature of the physics, of the shape of it, can bring down only half of what it takes up,' said Meagan Crawford, founder and managing partner at SpaceFund, an early-stage venture capital investment fund with a focus on commercial space. 'The space plane has the opposite physics, it can bring down twice as much as it takes up.' An ideal orbital transport and manufacturing network, then, has a combination of the two. Microgravity potential That's the potential. For now, the project with Merck is something of a proof of concept, a 3D-printed module containing a series of tubes, plungers, and capsules. Once it gets to the ISS, a willing astronaut will turn some valves in sequence, then the resulting concoction will be shuttled back to Earth for someone at Merck to examine. And they'll be able to do so quickly. Dr. Marshburn said that traditional reentry capsules like Dragon or Soyuz often spend days bouncing on boats or trucks before their cargo can be retrieved. Dream Chaser was designed for cargo to be offloaded within an hour after its wheels stop rolling. The Merck module will test that quick retrieval, plus the soft landing, ensuring the potential for this sort of crystalline growth in space. And, though the ISS is itself set to be decommissioned by the end of the decade, Sierra Space is positioning its own inflatable orbital modules as a commercial alternative, free of the politics and oversight of the ISS. Space Fund's Crawford said that the economics are sound, and the proof is in the number of players trying to capitalize on the space plane market. Startups like Venus Aerospace, Radian Aerospace, Dawn Aerospace, and Virgin Galactic each have their own aircraft in development, with goals ranging from cargo to space tourism. Space drug development has the potential to be hugely promising, but Sierra has a few other arrows in its quiver. It's partnering with Honda to get a next-gen fuel cell into space, and those of you craving smaller and better processors could be in luck too. A startup called Space Forge plans to grow processor substrates in orbit, another area where gentle touchdowns are key. In shattering today's mission cost barriers, Sierra Space might just blow through the semiconductor nanometer barrier, too. Softer cargo There's hope for one more type of cargo to come out of these missions. For now, Dream Chaser is relegated to transport only cargo, but the stumbles of the Starliner program could reopen the door to hauling humans. 'You see a winged body and of course, astronauts, especially test pilots, we want to be in that,' Dr. Marshburn said. 'At any point, we'd be able to leverage the work that's already been done to get that ready.' If that does come to pass, it'll take some time. Tenacity, the first Dream Chaser, is going through final checks at NASA, waiting for its chance to head to the ISS sometime later this year. The second, Reverence, is currently under production. In other words: Watch this space. 0 Comments
