Sierra Space has completed environmental testing of the Dream Chaser Tenacity rover

Sierra Space has successfully completed rigorous environmental testing of its Dream Chaser Tenacity spaceplane. These tests were conducted at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, marking a critical milestone on the path to orbital operations.

Dream Chaser, developed by Sierra Space, is not just a spacecraft; It is a platform designed to benefit and protect life on Earth. With the successful completion of these environmental tests, the Sierra Space team along with NASA experts is preparing the spaceplane and its companion, Shooting Star, for shipment to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. there Final testing and integration ahead of the inaugural launch scheduled for later this year.

Tom Weiss, CEO of Sierra Space, highlighted the significance of this achievement, noting, “The successful completion of an incredibly rigorous environmental testing campaign in close collaboration with NASA is an important milestone and It puts Dream Chaser on track for operations later this year“. This statement highlights significant progress towards transforming the relationship between space and Earth.

Over the past few months, Dream Chaser and Shooting Star have undergone a series of extensive tests, including Shock, vibration and thermal vacuum tests At the Armstrong facility. These tests, designed to simulate the extreme conditions of launch and spaceflight, are essential to ensure mission success.

Sierra Space and NASA’s collaboration also extended to crash tests with Sierra Space’s launch partner, United Launch Alliance (ULA). This included the flight separation system that will deploy the Dream Chaser from the upper stage of ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. After crash testing, the vehicles underwent sinusoidal vibration tests over a period of five weeks to simulate the extreme conditions of a rocket launch. Once the vibration tests were completed, additional crash tests were performed to simulate the dynamic environment while the two vehicles were separated before deorbit and return. The Dream Chaser and Shooting Star also underwent thermal vacuum testing at the Armstrong Space Propulsion Facility. These tests that Simulating extreme temperature changes in space, They are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of systems during the mission.

With the Dream Chaser Tenacity launching in 2024 as part of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract and a second spaceplane in production, Sierra Space is leading the way toward the future of commercial space exploration and protection for life on Earth.