The Dream Chaser spacecraft, a well-known aerospace company SNC (Sierra Nevada Corporation), had previously dropped out of the fight for the right to deliver astronauts to the ISS in the future. However, in addition to astronauts, it is necessary to deliver various cargoes on board the International Space Station. Therefore, the spacecraft still has a small chance to visit space, but this time in the role of an unmanned cargo ship.
The creation of the Dream Chaser spacecraft was carried out as part of the NASA program to transfer the organization of space flights and the supply of the ISS into the hands of private aerospace companies. The original Dream Chaser spacecraft was created solely to take part in NASA's Commercial Crew Program, in which reusable spacecraft were supposed to deliver astronauts and cargo to the ISS and return with them back to Earth. However, the ship will no longer be able to take part in this program. But he has a chance to hook on NASA's Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) program to deliver cargo to the space station, this program covers the period from 2015 to 2024. To participate in the competition for a contract with NASA, Sierra Nevada presented its new version of the Dream Chaser spacecraft, capable of delivering various cargoes to Earth's orbit, this time it is about an unmanned spacecraft.
While all competitors' projects resembled a return to technology back in the 60s of the XX century, SNC proposed a different approach - a real space plane with a monocoque fuselage, which was able to take on board up to 7 passengers. This unit could fly like an ordinary plane during its return to Earth, completing its flight on an ordinary runway of the most ordinary airfield. It can be noted that the design of the Dream Chaser spacecraft was significantly different from the designs of the spacecraft of competitors such as SpaceX and Boeing. This is not surprising when you consider that the project from SNC was a reincarnation of a shuttle and could fly in the Earth's atmosphere like a regular plane.
But the task of developing such a spacecraft turned out to be very difficult, so the specialists of Sierra Nevada outright lost the competition to their main competitors, Boeing with its CST-100 spacecraft and SpaceX with the Dragon Grew spacecraft. NASA specialists decided to give their preference to standard capsule ships. It is already known that the American space agency is ready to allocate $ 2.6 billion to SpaceX for the development of the Dragon capsule and $ 4.2 billion to Boeing for the development of the CST-100 spacecraft.
Despite the protests of SNC lawyers, representatives of the U. S. The Government Accountability Office, the US Government Accountability Office, left NASA's decision unchanged. Now the company is again preparing to enter the "arena of struggle" with competitors, but with an updated ship. This is an automatic unmanned cargo ship Dream Chaser. Now the company wants to take its spacecraft into space already as a transport vehicle, delivering cargo to the ISS.
According to available information from Sierra Nevada, their unmanned version of the Dream Chaser spacecraft is almost the same ship as before, it is not far from the first option. The spacecraft is propelled by a unique hybrid rocket engine that uses special plastics (hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene, HTPB) as fuel and nitrous oxide as an oxidizing agent. Unlike the manned version of the Dream Runner, the unmanned cargo ship will have unpressurized and pressurized compartments, and its wings will have a folding structure. Thanks to the folding wings, the truck can be easily “packed” inside the standard containment capsule used on the Atlas V and Ariane 5 launch vehicles.
The Dream Chaser spacecraft is launched into orbit using the Atlas V launch vehicle, with the spacecraft positioned at the top of the rocket as opposed to being positioned to the side, as was the case with the Space Shuttle. This arrangement makes it impossible to damage the spacecraft at the time of launch. Landing - horizontal in an airplane way. At the same time, the possibility of not just planning, like in shuttles, was provided for, but a full-fledged independent flight with the ability to land on any runways with a length of at least 2500 meters. The body of the device is made of composite materials and has ceramic thermal protection elements.
At present, the spacecraft continues to undergo tests of its systems for the future first flight into space, although NASA did not choose this type of spacecraft to deliver astronauts aboard the ISS. The next stage of the tests carried out under the number 15a proves that the Dream Chaser spacecraft's reactive control system is able to operate in a vacuum close to real space conditions. This system should help a promising shuttle to perform various maneuvers while in outer space, as well as control the spacecraft during takeoff and landing.
“By breaking this test milestone, we will be able to test the reliability and safety of our propulsion system,” said Mark Sirangelo, vice president of Sierra Nevada's Space Systems Division. "Successful completion of this test phase will bring us closer to the first orbital flight of our new space shuttle." It is worth noting that Sierra Nevada has already successfully completed all but one of the 13 test phases that are being conducted under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) agreement.
The promising shuttle Dream Chaser is expected to continue flight tests at the end of 2015. The tests are expected to take place at Ellington Airport in Houston, which will be used as a landing site. According to the official representative of Sierra Nevada, Ellington International Airport has already received permission to use it as a "cosmodrome".
The head of Sierra Nevada corporation Mark Sirangelo said that the agreement with the Houston airport will allow the company to realize all the advantages of the Dream Chaser spacecraft. This could provide us with the ability to bring materials and cargoes of value to scientists to Houston directly from space. Earlier, information appeared in the press that the first unmanned orbital flight of the new space shuttle was to take place on November 1, 2016.
