Sierra Space's Dream Chaser Preparing for Launch

We haven't had much news about Sierra Space's mini, robotic Space Shuttle called Dream Chaser since early November when it was sent off to NASA's Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio for more testing.  Thursday, February 1, Sierra Space had an event at the facility to show the Dream Chaser off to reporters. 

Reporters were surprised to see Dream Chaser and its cargo module — the vehicles are named "Tenacity" and "Shooting Star," respectively — were stacked vertically, as they will be during launch. The two stood 55 feet tall, a bit under half the height of the Space Shuttle orbiters.

Tenacity?  

"In order to convert bold dreams into bold action, it requires an enormous amount of tenacity, perseverance, confidence, determination and passion. And so we name our products after these emotional characteristics that get you through the hard times," former NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, who's now Sierra Space's chief medical officer, said during Thursday's event. 

"Building Tenacity has been hard," he added. "There's been a lot of things that we've found collectively that didn't always work right the first time. And we learned a lot that Tenacity has gotten us through the last six years, so there was no other name."

Tenacity and Shooting Star will combine for their first mission later this year, and has been mentioned as being on the Cert-2 flight of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket (a Vulcan is depicted in that video). While the inspiration for the name Tenacity is clear, perhaps the inspiration for Shooting Star as the name for the cargo "trunk" isn't quite as clear.  Until you realize that portion isn't reusable and will be burned up on reentry. 

While Tenacity is designed for up to 15 missions at up to 11,500 pounds of cargo up, Shooting star is a "one and done" craft, like Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo ship. 

But that launch isn't happening until Dream Chaser has been proven to be able to survive the flights it will be making, and that's the primary reason they've moved to NASA's testing facility there in Sandusky, Ohio. The testing capabilities include being able to shake something the size and weight of the Tenacity and Shooting Star integrated into one big assembly at the vibration levels that the Vulcan Centaur will shake the stack.  There are thermal tests as well (just about everyone I've ever met calls them "shake 'n bake" tests) as well as shake 'n bake in a vacuum. 

Tenacity will carry more than 7,800 pounds (3,540 kilograms) of cargo on its first flight, though it could tote up to 11,500 pounds (5,215 kg) on future missions. The space plane is designed to bring home more than 3,500 pounds (1,590 kg) of cargo and experiment samples, while more than 8,700 pounds (3,950 kg) of garbage can be disposed of in the cargo module on reentry.