Dream Chaser Spacecraft To Conduct Missions To The ISS

Deliveries to the International Space Station might be made by a new craft as early as 2019. The Dream Chaser spacecraft developed specifically for bringing supplied to the ISS is in the testing stages and passed a test for approach and landing on Saturday.

The craft was made by the Sierra Nevada Corporation and was tested at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The craft was tested using a free-flight method, meaning it was brought up and then released to glide down and land unmanned on a runway, which it did according to plan.

The Sierra Nevada Corp. posted photos from the free-flight test on Saturday to Twitter. The photos show the craft that looks like a small Space Shuttle in the sky and landing on the runway at Armstrong. The craft has been in the works for more than 10 years and in 2016 the company was awarded the contract to transport cargo to and from the ISS for NASA. The plan is for the Dream Chaser to fly a minimum of six missions to the ISS by 2024, says NASA.

There are two variants of the craft, one for crewed missions and one for uncrewed missions. But both have some similar features. They're designed to be used 15 or more times and have autonomous launch, flight and landing capabilities, according to Sierra Nevada Corp.

The Dream Chaser is only a quarter of the size that the Space Shuttle was. It’s also designed with a “lifting body” meaning it can land almost anywhere. It has small “winglets” and a wide and flat body that allow it to have a low-g and gentle re-entry which contributes to its reusability.

The United States has relied on private contracts as well as the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos to get its astronauts and supplies to the ISS since the Space Shuttle was taken out of service in 2011. Currently Orbital ATK and SpaceX run resupply missions to the ISS, but those contracts are up come 2018, leaving room for Sierra Nevada to swoop in.

The SpaceX capsule can be reused after crashing into the ocean, but the Orbital ATK one can’t be. The Dream Chaser from Sierra Nevada offers more reliable landings than the other two currently offer.