The Dream Chaser reusable spaceplane, which Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) is developing to ship cargo to the International Space Station, has completed the first of two captive-carry flight tests that are supposed to lead to a free-flight test later this year.

During the Aug. 30 captive-carry test, which lasted 1 hour and 41 minutes and occurred at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, a Columbia Helicopters Model 234-UT Chinook helicopter used a lift frame to pick up the Dream Chaser and carry it at an altitude of about 12,500 feet, the same height at which the spaceplane will be released during its free-flight test.

The Dream Chaser spaceplane undergoes a captive-carry flight test. (NASA photo)
The Dream Chaser spaceplane undergoes a captive-carry flight test. (NASA photo)

Also during the test, an SNC team sent commands to the Dream Chaser, monitored its performance and collected test data that engineers will use to refine the spaceplane’s systems.

“We are very pleased with results from the captive-carry test, and everything we have seen points to a successful test with useful data for the next round of testing,” said former NASA astronaut Lee “Bru” Archambault, SNC’s director of flight operations for the Dream Chaser.

The second captive-carry test and the free-flight test are both slated for this fall at NASA Armstrong, SNC spokeswoman Kimberly Schwandt said. During the free-flight test, the uncrewed, winged Dream Chaser will be released to glide on its own and land, according to NASA.

The Dream Chaser underwent a similar series of flight tests in 2013, but during the free-flight test, the spaceplane’s left landing gear failed to deploy properly, causing the vehicle to skid off the runway. Since then, SNC has incorporated new software, avionics and flight control systems into the spacecraft.

SNC is one of three companies chosen in 2016 to transport cargo to and from the space station under NASA’s Cargo Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract. The others are Orbital ATK [OA], with its Cygnus spacecraft, and SpaceX, with its Dragon capsule.

SNC announced in July that it has picked the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket to launch the Dream Chaser’s first two cargo resupply missions (Defense Daily, July 20). Those liftoffs will occur in 2020 and 2021.