Dream Chaser

.Sierra Nevada Corporation could air drop its Dream Chaser spaceplane prototype using Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo if it wins funds from NASA's Commercial Crew Development programme.
The Nevada-based space systems manufacturer has submitted a proposal for NASA's crew programme that would see a weight-representative Dream Chaser test article air-dropped for a runway landing. The test would be for the subsonic flight phase aerodynamics and the effectiveness of the control surfaces and some avionic systems.
NASA's programme will award funded space act agreements (SAA) next month distributing a total sum of $50 million. Dream Chaser, a vehicle that would deliver three or up to seven crew to the International Space Station depending on the level of cargo it also carries, would be launched by a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V.
"[The test article] could be air dropped by WhiteKnightTwo, this is how our types of companies can co-operate," says Sierra Nevada's space systems board executive vice-president and chairman Mark Sirangelo, referring to the community of entrepreneurial companies that refer to themselves as New Space.
He adds that ULA has conducted detailed studies for Sierra on the viability of launching Dream Chaser on an Atlas V and that the work had gone far enough "for [us] to be confident" of success.
Dream Chaser will use Sierra hybrid rockets in three ways: as a launch abort system, for the de-orbit burn motors and for powering, in part, the descent to a runway. A test firing of this motor technology was conducted in September.
Sierra's subsidiary Spacedev is a recipient of an unfunded NASA SAA under the agency's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services programme. Sirangelo says the company has "spent millions" of its own money on Dream Chaser's development, which includes completion of four of the 12 agreed SAA milestones, which included Dream Chaser's preliminary design review.

spacecraft similar to the Space Shuttle and based on the HL-20, a small plane-like craft developed by NASA in the 1980s as a replacement for the Shuttle. Dream Chaser is being developed by SpaceDev, an aerospace company based in California. SpaceDev claims says it could begin flying four-person suborbital flights in 2008 if it receives about $20 million in funding, and six-person missions to the International Space Station by around 2010 for an additional $100 million.
Like the Shuttle, Dream Chaser will lift off vertically and land horizontally. But it will not carry heavy cargo, and so would be just a fraction of the Shuttle's size. If it follows the dimensions of the HL-20, it would be about four times smaller and eight times lighter than the Shuttle, standing just 9 meters tall and weighing 10 tons.
Unlike the Shuttle's main engines, Dream Chaser's launcher will not use cryogenic fuel, which must be insulated with foam.
This will avoid the problem of falling foam on take-off that ultimately destroyed the Shuttle Columbia in 2003. Instead of cryogenic liquid hydrogen or oxygen fuel, the spacecraft will use hybrid rockets that burn liquid nitrous oxide and solid rubber. Dream Chaser will be strapped to one of three large rocket boosters on the launch pad. The two outer boosters will burn and fall away first, then the spacecraft will separate from the third. It will finally reach orbit by successively firing two smaller rockets that SpaceDev is now developing under contract with the US Air Force. The large rocket boosters will each produce 450,000 kg (1 million lb)of thrust – though it is still on the drawing board. But the company already has experience with hybrid rockets, helping to build the hybrid motor that powered SpaceShipOne with 7,000 kg (15,000 lbf) of thrust.

In the picture above Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dreamchaser reusable vehicle concept docks with the International Space Station. Of NASA's five Commercial Crew Development initiative funded space act agreements announced on 2 February Sierra Nevada won the largest sum, $20 million out of a total fund of $50 million

Sierra Nevada's Mark Sirangelo told Hyperbola: "We are planning to mature our rocket motor system and develop an early prototype drop test vehicle under this programme and supplementing it with our own resources. It is only an eight month programme in its current form. Our programme goal is to have a usable orbital vehicle in service by 2014. The vehicle will take seven crew and critical cargo to and from [low Earth orbit] destinations and be able to land on a 3,000m [9,800ft] runway. Our team consists of seven prominent space companies and universities all with considerable experience."

The primary current focus of the SpaceDev Advanced Systems group is an overall space transportation system based on the NASA[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image] HL-20 lifting body spaceplane. Christened the Dream ChaserTM, it is being designed to carry passengers and cargo in the sub-orbital and orbital flights regimes, including flights to and from the International Space Station. Leveraging the work performed on the NASA HL-20, the Dream ChaserTM will provide a safe and affordable solution for commercial space operations, will launch vertically and land horizontally on conventional runways.

As of December 31, 2006, SpaceDev's executive officers and directors together beneficially owned approximately 45.7% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock. James W. Benson and Susan C. Benson beneficially own approximately 22% of SpaceDev common stock. Mr. Benson separated from SpaceDev's employ in September 2006 and founded Benson Space Company but retains a seat on our Board of Directors. In October 2006, SpaceDev was awarded a $330,000 Phase I study contract from Benson Space Company to further the SpaceDev Dream Chaser™ spaceship program. The study contributed to the on-going development of the spaceship and resulted in space vehicle and rocket motor designs ready for Phase II vehicle fabrication and testing. The SpaceDev Dream Chaser™ spaceship is based on NASA’s design of the ten passenger orbital HL-20 Personnel Launch System, and will launch vertically and land horizontally. SpaceDev recognized approximately $76,000 in revenue under this contract from inception through December 31, 2006.

SpaceDev is currently working in conjunction with NASA Commercial Orbital Transporation Services (COTS) office to develop and configure the system for ISS servicing. In parallel, SpaceDev has signed a memorandum of understanding with United Launch Alliance (ULA) and is evaluating man-rating the Atlas 5 launch vehicle and configuring it for use with Dream ChaserTM to provide a launch configuration based on the exceptional heritage of the Atlas family of launch vehicles.

Marketing and sales expenses increased to approximately $2.2 million, or 6.8% of net sales, for the year ended December 31, 2006, from approximately $674,000, or 7.5% of net sales, during the same period in 2005. The total dollar increase of approximately $1.5 million was mainly due to costs related to bidding a number of proposals, including approximately $800,000 for the NASA COTS proposal during 2006, as well as absorbing a larger marketing and sales organization as part of the merger with Starsys. Unfortunately, SpaceDev did not win the COTS contract.

SpaceDev has begun designing a reuseable, piloted, sub-orbital space ship that could be scaled to transport passengers to and from Low Earth Orbit, including the International Space Station. The name of the vehicle is the SpaceDev Dream Chaser™. SpaceDev signed a non-binding Space Act Memorandum of Understanding with NASA Ames Research Center, which confirmed SpaceDev's intention to explore novel, hybrid propulsion based hypersonic test beds for routine human space access. SpaceDev will explore with NASA collaborative partnerships to investigate the potential of using SpaceDev's proven hybrid propulsion and other technologies, and a low cost, private space program development approach to establish and design new piloted small launch vehicles and flight test platforms to enable near-term, low-cost routine space access for NASA and the United States.

Unlike the more complex SpaceShipOne, for which SpaceDev provided critical proprietary hybrid rocket motor propulsion technologies and components, the SpaceDev Dream Chaser™ would be crewed and launch vertically, like most launch vehicles, and would glide back for a normal horizontal runway landing. The sub-orbital SpaceDev Dream Chaser™ would have an altitude goal of approximately 160 km (about 100 miles) and would be powered by a single, high performance hybrid rocket motor, under parallel development by us for the SpaceDev Streaker™, a family of small, expendable launch vehicles, designed to affordably deliver small satellites to Low Earth Orbit. The SpaceDev Dream Chaser™ motor would produce approximately 100,000 pounds of thrust, about six times the thrust of the SpaceShipOne motor, but less than one-half the thrust of the 250,000 pounds of thrust produced by hybrid rocket motors developed several years ago by the American Rocket Company.

On September 29, 2004 and October 4, 2004, SpaceDev's hybrid propulsion technology helped propel SpaceShipOne into space flight history as the craft garnered the $10 Million Ansari X Prize, a contest created to stimulate the development of the private sector human space flight industry. SpaceDev provided several critical components and the hybrid rocket technology for the craft's motor, including igniter, injector and main operating valve, which successfully performed as expected and powered SpaceShipOne on its historic manned flight. SpaceShipOne exceeded the altitude requirement on both scheduled flights as required by the Ansari X Prize competition. The hybrid propulsion system burned full duration and pilot Brian Binnie steered SpaceShipOne high above the Mojave, California desert to a height of 367,442 feet altitude (69.5 miles), which far exceeded the required 328,000 feet altitude - a sky-high goal required by the X Prize Foundation of St. Louis, Missouri.

SpaceDev, Inc., including wholly-owned active subsidiary, Starsys, Inc., which was acquired by SpaceDevs on January 31, 2006, is engaged in the conception, design, development, manufacture, integration, sale and operation of space technology systems, subsystems, products and services, as well as the design, manufacture, and sale of mechanical and electromechanical subsystems and components for spacecraft. We are currently focused on the commercial and military development of low-cost small satellites and related subsystems, hybrid rocket propulsion for space and launch vehicles, subsystems that enable critical spacecraft functions such as pointing solar arrays and communication antennas and restraining, deploying and actuating moving spacecraft components.

The acquisition of Starsys on January 31, 2006 fundamentally changed the SpaceDev profile. Starsys was insolvent at the time of the merger. SpaceDev's historic business had 2005 revenues of approximately $9.0 million and a 2005 profit of approximately $0.5 million. Starsys is a mature operating company with 2005 revenues of approximately $18 million and 2005 losses of approximately $3.4 million. In 2006, SpaceDev and Starsys merged and had combined revenues of approximately $32 million and losses of less than $1.0 million.

During 2006, approximately 89% of our net sales were generated from direct government contracts, and from government-related work through subcontracts with others, while the remaining 11% was generated from commercial contracts. In 2005, approximately 98% of our net sales were generated from direct government contracts and from government-related work through subcontracts with others, while the remaining 2% was generated from commercial contracts. The mix shift was primarily due to our January 2006 acquisition of Starsys.