Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: Sierra Space

The yet-to-fly Sierra Space Dream Chaser commercial spaceplane is already listing landing sites around the globe.

Spaceport Oita in Kunisaki, Oita, Japan, is a possible landing spot, according to a recent Sierra Space statement.

Meanwhile, Dream Chaser, billed as the world’s first winged commercial spacecraft recently arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The Dream Chaser spaceplane, named Tenacity, arrived at Kennedy on May 18.

The Tenacity spaceplane is slated for its maiden orbital flight aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. However, that 2^nd certification of the ULA booster is still to come. There’s hope that Dream Chaser will be launched on a Vulcan third flight perhaps this fall, according to reports.

Dream Chaser Tenacity, Sierra Space’s uncrewed cargo spaceplane, is processed inside the Space Systems Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in this photo taken May 20.
Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Fleet afoot

That maiden Dream Chaser flight is scheduled to be the vehicle’s first International Space Station servicing mission.

Meanwhile, build-up of the Dream Chaser “fleet” is underway with a second spaceplane under construction.

Sierra Space is also eyeing multiple global partnerships to establish the following runway landing sites in addition to Oita, Japan. They are Kennedy Space Center, Florida; Spaceport Cornwall, U.K.; Huntsville, Alabama; and Spaceport America in New Mexico.

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