Sierra Space

Overview Sierra Space is a U.S. space company developing reusable spaceplanes, space‑station infrastructure, and satellite systems. Formed in 2021 as a standalone business focused on commercialization of low‑Earth orbit, the company is headquartered in Louisville, Colorado, with additional facilities in Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Alabama and other U.S. locations. Sierra Space builds flight hardware and subsystems for government and commercial customers and is the prime developer of the Dream Chaser® spaceplane and LIFE® inflatable habitat. Spaceplanes and Cargo Services • Dream Chaser (uncrewed cargo): A lifting‑body spacecraft that launches inside a 5‑meter fairing and lands on a conventional runway at ~1.5 g, enabling rapid (~1 hour) access to time‑critical cargo after landing. The first vehicle, Tenacity™, will debut on a free‑flyer demonstration mission no earlier than late 2026. For ISS logistics, Dream Chaser operates with the Shooting Star® cargo module, which adds pressurized volume, power and propulsion and provides destructive re‑entry for waste. Depending on configuration, Dream Chaser and Shooting Star support several tons of up‑ and down‑mass, including ~7,000 lb of internal cargo in Shooting Star and mission options around ~8,000 lb up‑mass. • Launch vehicle: Dream Chaser is integrated for launch on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur. Space Stations and Habitats • LIFE (Large Integrated Flexible Environment): A soft‑goods inflatable habitat designed for scalable, low‑mass pressurized volume for commercial space stations. Multiple full‑scale pressure‑shell “burst” tests at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center exceeded the agency’s x4 safety factor requirement, supporting certification of the soft‑goods structure. • Orbital Reef: Sierra Space is a principal partner on Orbital Reef, a planned commercial LEO destination with a modular architecture for research, business, and tourism. Sierra Space provides LIFE habitat modules, environmental systems and station operations elements. Space Technologies & Subsystems Sierra Space designs and manufactures satellite platforms and critical subsystems—including power systems, avionics, structures and mechanisms—used across hundreds of missions. The company cites delivery of thousands of space systems flown on hundreds of spacecraft over several decades. Facilities and Footprint Headquarters and major production are in Louisville, Colorado, with integration and processing at Kennedy Space Center (Florida). Additional offices and engineering sites include North Carolina and Wisconsin, along with test activities in Alabama. Status and Outlook Following environmental testing and pre‑launch processing of the Dream Chaser spaceplane and Shooting Star cargo module, Sierra Space and NASA modified the first mission profile to a free‑flying demonstration targeting late 2026. Near‑term priorities include completing flight readiness for Tenacity, advancing LIFE habitat development toward commercial station deployment, and continuing delivery of satellite platforms and subsystems for civil, commercial and national‑security customers.