"Autonomous Flight and 30-Time Reuse"... The Space Shuttle Era Reopens [Reading Science]

Sierra Space in the US Nears Completion of Space Shuttle Development
Reducing Size with Lightweight Design and Advanced Technologies like Autonomous Flight

The US manned space shuttle Discovery.
[Photo by NASA]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] While people in their 20s may not know, those in their 30s and 40s remember. It refers to the image of a sleek space shuttle with a white fuselage and black body, hanging from massive pillars (fuel tanks and boosters), launching, repairing the Hubble Space Telescope and the space station, and then returning to Earth to land gracefully like a giant swan. It is a nostalgic symbol of dreams about science and space. There is also the painful memory that shocked the world when the Challenger exploded due to a faulty rubber ring leaking fuel during launch in 1986. However, after more than a decade, the era of space shuttles is reopening. Reflecting technological advancements, an unmanned autonomous reusable space shuttle is nearing completion.

Recently, Sierra Space, a U.S. aerospace company, released photos of the first actual flight model of the 'Dream Chaser' series space shuttle, named Tenacity, being assembled at its Colorado headquarters factory. The Tenacity is nearly finished with interior work, with some external heat shield coverings and other parts still to be installed.

Space Shuttle of Sierra Space Corporation.

Sierra Space has already completed structural testing of the vehicle and is now in the final assembly and testing phase of various components. Around August to September, it is scheduled to be moved to the Neil Armstrong Test Facility at Plum Brook Station in Ohio, operated by NASA, for four months of thermal and vacuum testing. Following that, rocket engine attachment will take place at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Completion is expected around January next year, with the first flight planned for after February. Under contract with NASA, Tenacity will transport cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) twice.

Sierra Space is also separately developing a crewed version, aiming for launch as early as 2026. This will be used to ferry astronauts to the ISS and, together with Amazon's Blue Origin, to build a commercial space station in orbit called Orbital Reef, as well as to support space tourism transportation.

The space shuttle of Sierra Space is being assembled.

At an exhibition in February this year, Sierra Space unveiled the Dream Chaser, which measures 2 meters in height, 9 meters in length, and 7 meters in width. It is a reusable space shuttle only about one-quarter the size of traditional shuttles. It can carry 5.5 tons of cargo and fly approximately 30 missions. Notably, it requires no pilot due to autonomous driving technology. It can take off and land on runways as short as 3 kilometers. Sierra Space is also reportedly discussing with U.S. intelligence agencies the deployment of this new space shuttle for national security-related missions.

The space shuttle program by NASA produced six shuttles?Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour?used from 1981 to 2011. Russia also launched the Buran shuttle once in 1988 during the Soviet era. After the Apollo program's success in moon exploration, the U.S. developed the space shuttle with an unprecedented 24-ton cargo capacity to build large-scale space stations. However, due to significant risks such as the Challenger explosion and the inability to reuse boosters and fuel tanks, resulting in high launch costs, the Endeavour completed its final flight in 2011 and is now preserved in a museum.