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Dream Chaser and other national projects


Dream Chaser

Dream ChaserSpaceDev, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), is developing the Dream Chaser, an overall space transportation system based on the NASA HL-20 lifting body spaceplane. It is being designed to carry passengers and cargo in sub-orbital and orbital flights including journeys to and from the International Space Station (ISS).

The goal of the Dream Chaser is to provide a safe and affordable solution for commercial space operations and to launch vertically and land horizontally on conventional runways.

SNC Space Systems is currently working with the NASA Commercial Crew and Cargo Office on the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Program to develop and configure the system for ISS servicing. In parallel, SNC has signed a memorandum of understanding with United Launch Alliance (ULA)—headquartered in Centennial, Colorado—and is evaluating man-rating the Atlas 5 launch vehicle and configuring it for use with Dream Chaser.

Other major projects

  • Kepler Mission – NASA's $500 million Kepler spacecraft is the first mission with the ability to find planets like Earth. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., developed the Kepler flight system and supports its mission operations.
  • GPS III – Lockheed Martin won a $1.5 billion contract in 2008 to develop GPS III, the newest military and civilian navigation technology that will have 500 times the transmission power of the current GPS constellation, will resist jamming, and provide better accuracy with faster clock update rates.
  • GOES-R – Lockheed Martin is building the next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-Series, known as GOES-R, for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Data from the $1.09 billion GOES system will provide accurate real-time weather forecast and early warning products to the public and private sectors.
  • GeoEye-1 – GeoEye, along with partners Starsys, SEAKR, and Ball Aerospace, built GeoEye-1 the highest resolution of any commercial imaging system and can collect images with a ground resolution of 0.41-meters or 16 inches. The satellite was launched aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II launch vehicle on Sep. 6, 2008.
  • Orion - Prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems won an $8.2 billion contract to design and build a state-of-the-art Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) that will replace the Space Shuttle as NASA's primary spacecraft for human space exploration.
  • United Launch Alliance – The U.S. Air Force awarded Centennial-based United Launch Alliance a $505 million contract to provide launch services for three National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellites aboard Delta IV rockets under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.
  • Worldview-2 – Built by Ball Aerospace, DigitalGlobe, and ITT Corporation’s Space Systems Division, WorldView-2 will offer half-meter panchromatic resolution, and 1.8-meter multispectral resolution full-color images for enhanced spectral analysis, mapping and monitoring applications, land-use planning, disaster relief, exploration, defense and intelligence, and visualization and simulation environments.