Dream Chaser is a reusable space plane designed to carry from two to seven people and/or cargo to orbital destinations such as the International Space Station.

Dream Chaser vehicle landing...an artist's depiction

Dream Chaser is a reusable lifting-body space plane carries up to seven crew and cargo to and from low Earth orbit.

Including the transportation of NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Vehicle design derived from NASA’s HL-20 , which has years of development, analysis, and wind tunnel testing by the Langley Research Center.

Launches vertically on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V Launch Vehicle.

Capable of free flight in low Earth orbit and of docking to the International Space Station & other orbital destinations.

Low-g reentry (< 1.5 gs) protects crew & science experiment return samples.

Low-impact horizontal landing on a conventional runway.

Large cross-range with frequent landing opportunities.

Exceptional crew safety features, such as non-toxic propulsion systems
On-board propulsion system derived from SNC’s SpaceShipOne & SpaceShipTwo hybrid rocket motor technology.

Designed for simple maintenance and quick turnaround.

Winner of Two NASA Commercial Crew Development Awards, totaling $100 Million

Specs

Length: 9m

History

The Dream Chaser was publicly announced on September 20, 2004 as candidate for NASA's Vision for Space Exploration and later Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Program (COTS).

SpaceDev was acquired by Sierra Nevada Corporation in December 2008. On February 1, 2010, Sierra Nevada Corporation was awarded $20 million in seed money under NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) phase 1 program for the development of the Dream Chaser.

NASA Langley's original HL-20 team made to the successful Dream Chaser Flight Vehicle Captive Carry test completed on May 29, 2012. This test marked the first full-scale flight of the HL-20-derived vehicle, as well as the beginning of the Dream Chaser's flight test program. The flight met all the pre-established flight test goals and is a significant step towards preparing the vehicle for an autonomous Approach and Landing Test (ALT) scheduled for later this summer.

June 12, 2012 – Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems proudly announces the commemoration of the fifth year of its very successful relationship with NASA Langley Research Center as partners in the design and development of the Dream Chaser® Space System (DCSS). SNC and NASA Langley joined forces to update NASA's HL-20 lifting body vehicle design into SNC's Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle, which is being developed as part of NASA’s venture into commercially provided crew transport.

Sierra Nevada Corporation and NASA's Langley Research Center announced five years of partnership on the Dream Chaser Space System.

Dream Chaser Links:

• SNC Space Exploration Systems: Official website for Dream Chaser
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Updated: Saturday 23rd, February, 2013