While companies show off their robots, autonomous cars and virtual reality headsets at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sierra Space is presenting innovations that are out of this world.
The company is showcasing a life-size replica of its Dream Chaser spaceplane that will one day take people and cargo to low Earth-orbit.
Along with the 30-foot craft, Sierra Space’s Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) habitat, a giant inflatable house for moon colonizers, is also on display – but as a scaled-down version.
Sierra Space may be a newcomer to the space industry, but the company has secured a deal with NASA for unmanned flights to the International Space Station (ISS) starting this year.
And it is working with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to develop a commercial off-Earth outpost called Orbital Reef.
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Sierra Space is showcasing a life-size replica of its Dream Chaser spaceplane at CES 2022, which that will one day take people and cargo to low Earth-orbit
CES, which is held in Las Vegas, is expected to host more than 50,000 people and 2,200 exhibitors. The event opened Wednesday and ends Friday.
However, concerns about surging coronavirus cases has forced several big-name companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta and TikTok to pull out of the conference.
Sierra Space, which was spun off as an independent company last year after being part of the Sierra Nevada Corporation, has been working on its Dream Chaser space plane for more than a decade.
Sierra Space president Janet Kavandi said in the statement: ‘As a former NASA astronaut, I’ve been waiting for the moment where working and living in space is accessible to more people worldwide, and that moment has arrived.’
Along with the 30-foot craft, Sierra Space’s Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) habitat, a giant inflatable house for moon colonizers, is also on display – but as a scaled-down version
The cargo version of the craft is set to launch this year, which will be launched into space on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket.
Dream Chaser is designed to deliver up to 12,100 pounds of pressurized and unpressurized cargo and can return 4,000 pounds of cargo with a gentle runway landing.
Once the vehicle gets flying, it will begin supplying cargo to the ISS as a part of the company’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract.
A full sized crew model of the Sierra Space Dream Chaser space plane is displayed ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 4, 2022
Beyond Dream Chaser, Sierra Space is also showing off a smaller model of its LIFE habitat. LIFE will travel to space folded up inside a launch vehicle then expands to a full three stories — enough living space to accommodate four people
Beyond Dream Chaser, Sierra Space is also showing off a smaller model of its LIFE habitat.
LIFE will travel to space folded up inside a launch vehicle then expands to a full three stories — enough living space to accommodate four people.
And Dream Chaser will be used to shuttle visitors to and from the station.
However, Sierra Space is not just catering to astronauts, it foresees scientists, filmmakers and even tourists living on the space station.
Sierra Space is not just catering to astronauts, it foresees scientists, filmmakers and even tourists living on the space station
The display at CES shows a portion of the habitat, complete with several rooms where space-fairing explorers can eat, play and exercise.
The commercial space station is set to be deployed between 2025 and 2030, with the completed station serving multiple purposes.
Sierra Space will also be an integral part of the Orbital Reef space station, described as a ‘mixed use business park’ in space with almost as much habitable volume as the ISS, though it will have room for more people — ten, compared to the ISS’s six.
Blue Origin will produce the station’s utility systems, core modules and reusable New Glenn launch system, while Sierra Space is contributing its Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) modules and Dream Chaser spacecraft.
The vessel, capable of landing on runways worldwide, will transport cargo and crew to and from the Reef.
