Sierra Space is a spin-off from Sierra Nevada Corporation that was established as an independent commercial space company in April 2021.[10] Sierra Space operates facilities in 6 states including Colorado, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Florida, Texas, and Alabama.[5]
In October 2022, Blue Origin and Sierra Space partnered to jointly develop the world’s first commercially owned and operated space station, Orbital Reef. Orbital Reef will be a “mixed-use business park in space in low Earth orbit (LEO) for commerce, research, and tourism by the end of this decade."[11] Sierra Space and Blue Origin received a $130 million contract to develop the Orbital Reef space station. It is expected to be operational by 2027. Sierra Space expects to announce its first astronaut trainees in 2023.[12]
In April 2023, Sierra Space and ILC Dover announced their partnership for developing of inflatable space station modules and spacesuits. ILC Dover will be the exclusive partner in providing soft goods for Sierra Space’s Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) modules for commercial space stations.[13][14]
Sierra Space and the United States Air Force announced a partnership in July 2023. Under a 27-month, $22.6 million contract, Sierra Space will develop a 35,000 lbf thrust upper stage engine, known as the Vortex (VR35K-A). Work for the Vortex involves designing flight-weight engine components through the use of component and integrated breadboard engine test data.[15]
In August 2023, Sierra Space announced that it would be collaborating with BioServe Space Technologies to grow hematopoietic stem cells in microgravity to research undergoing treatment for blood cancer.[16][17] The same month, the company also partnered with Redwire on a biotech experiment platform that will be installed on Sierra Space's commercial space station LIFE module.[18]
Reports in November 2023 indicated that Sierra Space laid off 165 workers in a realignment of the company.[19]
Products
Sierra Space provides a mix of products and services in three areas: transportation, destinations, and applications.[20]
Transportation
Initial cargo flights of the Dream Chaser vehicle are planned under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Contract with follow-on cargo, crewed and other missions available for commercial, civil, and national security uses.
On September 8, 2022, Sierra Space announced it signed a CRADA with the United States Transportation Command to develop concepts for using Dream Chaser space planes and Shooting Star cargo modules for “timely global delivery of Department of Defense logistics and personnel."[21][22]
The first Dream Chaser, DC-101 Tenacity, completed assembly in November 2023. The vehicle will be shipped to NASA’s Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility for environmental testing.[23][24]
Through NASA’s NextSTEP project, Sierra Space completed its successful test in July 2022, which a maximum burst pressure rate of 192 psi. It then completed its second sub-scale ultimate burst pressure test on November 15, 2022 that achieved a 204 psi burst pressure rate. The safety requirement is 182.4 psi.[26] The full-scale LIFE pressure tests began in 2023, and on January 22, 2024 the company announced a successful full scale burst test of the LIFE habitat, exceeding safety margins by 27%.[27]
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