Sierra Nevada Shuts Down Poway [hybrid engine facility], Lays Off More Than 100

[DocM]

With Vvirgin Galactic going with the Scaled Composites vinyl engine, the Dream Chaser downselect and SNC's own acquisition of the ORBITEC Liquid Vortex engine tech for the mini-Dream Chaser / StratoLaunch manned spacecraft, it looks like the end of their hybrid engine line.

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/11/24/sierra-nevada-shuts-poway-lays-100/

Sierra Nevada Shuts Down Poway, Lays Off More Than 100

Sources report that Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has shut down its rocket engine test facility in Poway, Calif., where the company has tested propulsion systems for the Dream Chaser space shuttle and Virgin Galactic?s SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle. The company laid off more than 100 employees last week, including around 70 in Poway with the rest in Colorado, sources report. Sierra Nevada lost out on two big contracts this year. In May, Virgin Galactic announced it was switching from SNC?s rubber hybrid to a nylon hybrid engine developed by Scaled Composites to power SpaceShipTwo. The rubber hybrid had been tested down in Poway. In September, SNC lost out on the next round of NASA Commercial Crew Program contracts when the space agency selected Boeing and SpaceX to develop vehicles to fly to the International Space Station. SNC?s Dream Chaser shuttle was not selected. SNC has appealed the decision. The Government Accountability Office has until early January to make a decision on the appeal.