The Dream Chaser spaceplane is owned and operated by Sierra Space, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation. Although design, manufacturing and assembly is based in Louisville, Colorado, we have assembled a world-class “Dream Team” of aerospace companies, NASA centers, universities and international partners all collaborating to ensure the Dream Chaser is the safest, most reliable spacecraft in the world. We have established cooperative agreements with international space agencies collectively representing almost two dozen spacefaring countries with a heritage of success that includes hundreds of missions. For NASA missions, vehicle refurbishment between flights will be performed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

A typical airplane has large wings that provide the lift to keep the vehicle in the air. While Dream Chaser does have small winglets, or fins, to provide directional stability in flight, the lift is created by the body of the vehicle (the underside) which is wide and flat. Our gentle low-g reentry allows us to build Thermal Protection System (TPS) and an overall vehicle that is fully reusable with pin-point landing capability enabled by the lifting-body characteristics. The lifting-body design gives Dream Chaser a higher lift-to-drag ratio and allows for greater cross-range landing capability, meaning the landing zone (or places where it can land) is greatly increased.

Since Dream Chaser uses all non-toxic consumables, including propellants, there are no environmental or safety hazards that require unique ground support infrastructure. As a result, it has the potential to land anywhere that has a suitable 10,000 ft runway capable of handling a typical large passenger airplane. Almost immediately after landing, the Dream Chaser spaceplane offers access to cargo and crew. Additionally, a runway landing substantially increases safety and reduces risk because runways are developed, maintained and operated to strict domestic and international standards. With other spacecraft, such as capsules, a distant splash down into an ocean or remote landing crew and cargo retrieval is more labor intensive, takes longer to complete, requires more support infrastructure and introduces risk - including those related to injured crew or sensitive cargo. For scientists, researchers, and medical personnel, the benefits of the near-immediate accessibility afforded by runway landings are unmatched.

Dream Chaser will experience atmospheric entry with a maximum of only 1.5 g’s throughout the flight profile, which is considerably less than existing capsule-based orbital return systems, or even most roller coasters! This attribute makes the Dream Chaser vehicle ideal for sensitive payloads and deconditioned or injured crew members returning from space.

Our cargo version of the Dream Chaser spaceplane is designed to be reused 15 or more times, which is more than any other current space vehicle, making the Dream Chaser affordable and responsive. The crew version is designed for a minimum of 25 missions.

Right now the Dream Chaser spaceplane is designed as a Space Utility Vehicle (SUV) for LEO. The spacecraft is capable of docking or berthing to the International Space Station (Space Station) and can perform a variety of other missions in LEO including: remote sensing, satellite servicing; free-flying, self-contained science or manufacturing; serving as an exploration testbed, or performing active debris removal (cleaning up space trash).

The Dream Chaser spaceplane third-generation design builds upon four decades of NASA development (i.e., HL-20, and lifting-body space shuttle legacy). Dream Chaser is 30 feet (or 9 meters) long which is roughly ¼ the total length of the Space Shuttle orbiters. The Space Shuttle was designed with a spacious cargo bay to allow it to carry large structures to space such as components for the International Space Station (Space Station) and the Hubble Space Telescope. However in 2011 Space Station construction was completed, therefore, NASA no longer needs such a large cargo vehicle to transport hardware or cargo to and from LEO. Instead, NASA now needs smaller, more efficient transportation systems to transport cargo and crew to and from the Space Station.