COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.–A Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) executive believes the reusability of the company’s Dream Chaser cargo system space vehicle gives it an edge in NASA’s Cargo Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) competition, which could be worth as much as $14 billion.
Corporate Vice President for SNC Space Systems Mark Sirangelo told sister publication Defense Daily in April at the National Space Symposium (NSS) the economies of scale are better for building one reusable space plane as opposed to 25 space capsules for 25 missions. Current CRS contractors Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and Orbital ATK [OA] use capsules to deliver cargo and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). Sirangelo also added that not one capsule has ever returned to space in 60 years of space travel.
Sirangelo also believes SNC has an advantage in the speed to which Dream Chaser will return to earth. Sirangelo said Dream Chaser will be able to return critical research being performed on ISS to a United States runway in eight to 12 hours at less than two G’s.
SNC last year, along with Blue Origin, lost out on NASA’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap), which awarded contracts to SpaceX and Boeing [BA]. Sirangelo said one lesson applied from the experience is the ability to launch Dream Chaser from many rockets, as opposed to one rocket. The Dream Chaser cargo system is a variant of the Dream Chaser space system offered by the company for CCtCap.
Sirangelo said Dream Chaser is capable of being launched atop Arianespace’s Ariane 5 or 6 vehicles and, potentially, a Japanese space agency (JAXA) vehicle. Both space agencies have partnerships with NASA, he said. SNC said in a statement Dream Chaser is also compatible with United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Delta IV rocket, which is scheduled to be retired in the 2018-2019 timeframe. Dream Chaser’s foldable wings allow the spacecraft to fit inside a standard five meter fairing.
Sirangelo said Dream Chaser is a great candidate because it’s a fully autonomous vehicle that can perform multiple services at once: deliver both pressurized and unpressurized cargo to ISS and return that cargo to earth. Sirangelo said Dream Chaser is also the only reusable vehicle that has “some degree” of proven heritage, a big deal for SNC.
SNC said Dream Chaser is the only low-earth orbit (LEO), reusable, lifting-body vehicle capable of a runway landing and immediate access to cargo. It can carry 5,500 kg of pressurized and unpressurized upmass, while dual downmass capability provides cargo disposal and accelerated return of cargo and science on every flight.
SNC sees a future for Dream Chaser beyond cargo resupply missions. The company envisions advanced development opportunities including servicing for future space stations; satellite servicing, deployment and retrieval; orbital debris removal and serving as a test bed for exploration technologies and hypersonic flights.
In addition to SNC, Boeing, Orbital ATK, SpaceX and Lockheed Martin [LMT] bid for CRS-2. Lockheed Martin’s offer includes an exoliner from Thales Alenia Space used on the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and a robotic arm built by Canada’s MDA.
According to the draft request for proposals (RFP), though the first CRS-2 mission does not have to be launched in 2017, ISS does have a requirement for CRS missions in 2017 that must be satisfied. Thus, an offeror that is able to provide services to meet the program requirements beginning in 2017 would be more advantageous to NASA. SpaceX President and CEO Gwynne Shotwell said in March the company should be ready for CRS-2 launches in 2017.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in April called the delay of a CRS-2 contract award from June to September a “good news story” due to an “abundance of proposals.” ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.