The Dream Chaser - Sierra Nevada Corporation
The Dream Chaser is a spaceplane being developed by SpaceDev, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation. The Dream Chaser design is planned to carry seven people to and from low earth orbit. The vehicle would launch vertically on an Atlas V and land horizontally on conventional runways.
The Dream Chaser is a reusable composite spacecraft designed to carry from two to seven people and/or cargo to orbital destinations such as the International Space Station it will have a built-in launch escape system and can fly autonomously if needed. It can use any suitable launch vehicle but is planned to be launched on a man-rated Atlas V 402 rocket.The vehicle will be able to return from space by gliding (typically experiencing less than 1.5 g on re-entry) and landing on any airport runway that handles commercial air traffic. Its reaction control system thrusters burn ethanol based fuel, which is not an explosively volatile material, allowing the Dream Chaser to be handled immediately after landing, unlike the Space Shuttle. Its thermal protection system (TPS) is an ablative tile created by NASA's Ames center that would be replaced as a large group rather than tile by tile, and would only need to be replaced after several flights. A fleet of Dream Chasers are planned to be built.
