NASA announced Thursday it is “no longer obligated” to use the Dream Chaser spaceplane in development by Colorado company Sierra Space for cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station.
Both NASA and Sierra said testing and development of the first Dream Chaser, known as Tenacity, would continue toward a test flight planned for 2026, but that flight would be a “free-flyer, demonstration mission.”
The Dream Chaser was once in the running to carry astronauts to the station along with Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Dragon. The latter two won out in that competition in 2014. Two years later, Sierra was one of the winners of a NASA deal to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. Under the contract, the company was to provide a minimum of seven cargo flights with Dream Chaser and the companion Shooting Star cargo module. But the Dream Chaser initial launch date, once set for 2020, slipped repeatedly.
The delays came as NASA began planning to deorbit ISS in 2030, and as Boeing’s Starliner capsule faced troubled test flights and is still not certified for repeat human missions to ISS.
In a statement Thursday, NASA said it would “provide minimal support through the remainder of the development and the flight demonstration” for Dream Chaser, but is “no longer obligated for a specific number of resupply missions.”
The agency noted it still “may order Dream Chaser resupply flights to the space station” under the existing contract.
Dana Weigel, manager of NASA’s ISS Program, said the agency would continue investigating Dream Chaser and other potential options “for future resupply missions in low Earth orbit.”
In a press release, Fatih Ozmen, executive chair at Sierra Space, said the modified contract with NASA allows the company to demonstrate Dream Chaser’s “unique capabilities to meet the needs of diverse mission profiles, including emerging and existential threats and national security priorities that align with our acceleration into the Defense Tech market.”
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