SNC Dream Chaser - Stratolaunch partnership


Recommended Posts

Whoah....

A smaller, 3-person version of Dream Chaser air-launched by Stratolaunch's Roc mothership - which has a 117 meter (385 ft) wingspan.

Besides orbital joyrides perhaps a crew-optional replacement for the X-37B, among other things.

Sierra Nevada Corporation Develops Design for Stratolaunch Air Launch System for Low Earth Orbit

SPARKS, Nev., Sept. 30, 2014 ? Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) today announced a design for an integrated system for human spaceflight that can be launched to low Earth orbit (LEO) using Stratolaunch System?s air launch architecture and a scale version of SNC?s Dream Chaser? spacecraft.

The Dream Chaser is a reusable, lifting-body spacecraft capable of crewed or autonomous flight. Dream Chaser is the only lifting-body spacecraft capable of a runway landing, anywhere in the world. Stratolaunch Systems is a Paul G. Allen project dedicated to developing an air-launch system that will revolutionize space transportation by providing orbital access to space at lower costs, with greater safety and more flexibility.

As designed, the Dream Chaser-Stratolauncher human spaceflight system can carry a crew of three astronauts to LEO destinations. This versatile system can also be tailored for un-crewed space missions, including science missions, light cargo transportation or suborbital point-to-point transportation. The scaled crewed spacecraft design is based on SNC?s full-scale Dream Chaser vehicle which, for the past four years, has undergone development and flight tests as part of NASA?s Commercial Crew Program.

Chuck Beames, president, Vulcan Aerospace Corp and executive director for Stratolaunch Systems said, ?Combining a scaled version of SNC?s Dream Chaser with the Stratolaunch air launch system could provide a highly responsive capability with the potential to reach a variety of LEO destinations and return astronauts or payloads to a U.S. runway within 24 hours.?

?This relationship would expand our portfolio to include the highly flexible Stratolaunch system for launching reusable crewed or uncrewed spacecraft, or for rapid satellite constellation deployment,? said Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president of SNC?s Space Systems.

In addition to supporting development of human spaceflight capability, SNC studied satellite launch options and mechanisms, as well as point-to-point transportation options using the Stratolaunch launch system with a Dream Chaser spacecraft derivative. The Stratolaunch system is uniquely designed to allow for maximum operational flexibility and payload delivery from several possible operational sites, while minimizing mission constraints such as range availability and weather.

SNC and Stratolaunch Systems will present more detailed information on Dream Chaser-Stratolauncher at the 65th International Astronautical Congress in Toronto, Canada, on October 1, 2014 at 9:45 am ET in Room 701B.

# # #

Note: Press release and updated imagery and/or video available at www.sncspace.com/mediakit

>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SNC and Stratolaunch Systems will present more detailed information on Dream Chaser-Stratolauncher at the 65th International Astronautical Congress in Toronto, Canada, on October 1, 2014 at 9:45 am ET in Room 701B.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who is going to pay for all of this? They just lost the NASA bid, laid of a fair chunk of their employees because of it and now they announce a seperate DC design!

Just get the regular one up and running first guys!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Turns out SNC only laid off about 9% of the DC team, and they weren't the core staff but short timers hired just for the NASA part of DC's development. No need for them now.

Two parts to this development; SNC and Stratolaunch. If they really want it to happen, it WILL happen.

Stratolaunch has VERY deep pockets; Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. He owns Vulcan Inc, which owns Stratolaunch, Charter Communications, Rose City Radio Corp., the Seattle Seahawks, the Portland Trail Blazers, Mojave Aerospace Ventures etc. Other Stratolaunch participants are Burt Rutan and former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin.

Sierra Nevada Corp. is also large, and has DEEP pockets. They've been around for 50 years and having made gear for about every NASA probe flying or roving including Curiosity. They also make commercial & military spacecraft, the Gorgon Stare sensor for the MQ-9 Reaper, telemedicine gear, renewable energy equipment, navigation & guidance systems, information management systems, cyber security systems and a bunch of other expensive stuff. A major aerospace and military contractor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Orbital Sciences Thunderbolt launcher for Stratolaunch is undergoing a review that may result in it losing itake liquid hydrogen ($) upper stage in favor of two more solids.

Either way, the 3-person DC would be about 75-80% the size of the CCtCap DC, placing it within Thunderbolt's LEO capability.

This version of Thunderbolt should also be capable of placing a Boeing 702SP commsat in GTO.

NBC News story and latest concept image,

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/sierra-nevada-stratolaunch-team-dream-chaser-space-plane-n215386

Sierra Nevada and Stratolaunch Team Up on Dream Chaser Space Plane

Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Dream Chaser mini-shuttle space plane may have lost out in NASA's space taxi competition, but the company is still keeping the dream alive.

On Friday, Sierra Nevada challenged NASA's $6.8 billion award to its rivals, Boeing and SpaceX, on the grounds that Boeing put in a significantly higher bid "for a space program equivalent to the program that SNC proposed." On Monday, the company announced that it would offer the Dream Chaser as a winged spaceship for customers around the world.,

Now Sierra Nevada says it has designed a launch system for low Earth orbit, or LEO, that combines a scale version of the Dream Chaser with the Stratolaunch super-airplane that's bankrolled by software billionaire Paul Allen.

The combination "could provide a highly responsive capability with the potential to reach a variety of LEO destinations and return astronauts or payloads to a U.S. runway within 24 hours," Chuck Beames, president of Allen's Vulcan Aerospace Corp. and executive director for Stratolaunch Systems, said Tuesday in a Sierra Nevada news release.

Stratolaunch is currently building the world's biggest airplane at California's Mojave Air and Space Port a twin-fuselage behemoth that's designed to launch rockets in midflight. The plane is due to start flight tests in 2016, and the first space mission may come in 2017 or 2018. Stratolaunch's industrial partners include Orbital Sciences Corp. and ATK, two prominent aerospace companies that are in the process of merging.

Sierra Nevada said the Dream Chaser-Stratolaunch system could carry a crew of three astronauts to LEO destinations (such as the International Space Station). The air-launch system could also be used for uncrewed space missions or suborbital point-to-point transportation, Sierra Nevada said.

The idea of Sierra Nevada teaming up with a venture backed by Allen, the man who funded the SpaceShipOne rocket plane, is already stirring up a buzz among spaceflight mavens like SpaceKSC.com blogger Stephen C. Smith:

Stephen C. Smith @SpaceKSCBlog

@jeff_foust Call me selfish, I want to see a Stratolaunch take off from KSC's runway with a Dream Chaser strapped under the wing. :-)

141001-stratolaunch_586dfe9e3cce066008f8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.