SNC’s Dream Chaser. | Image: NASA / SNC
Private space company Sierra Nevada Corporation announced today that its mini-spaceplane, the Dream Chaser, will launch into orbit on top of the United Launch Alliance’s future Vulcan Centaur rocket. The Dream Chaser has yet to see space, but once it’s operational, it will help ferry cargo and science experiments to the astronauts on board the International Space Station between 2021 and 2024.
The Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is one of three companies tasked by NASA to periodically launch to the ISS to make sure the station is fully stocked with supplies. The cargo missions are all part of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services Program, one of a few initiatives at the space agency that’s meant to offload space transportation to the…