The Dream Chaser spaceplane is the first-ever winged commercial spaceplane that could open shared access to space and international collaboration. The first model of the DC-100 uncrewed cargo spacecraft is named Tenacity which will be the first vehicle in Sierra Space's Dream Chaser fleet of spaceplanes.

During its first flight, Sierra Space will conduct in-orbit demonstrations to certify Dream Chaser for future missions. Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, and the Dream Chaser Mission Control Center in Louisville, Colorado, will monitor the flight.

As Dream Chaser approaches the orbiting laboratory, it will hold a final time approximately 38 feet (11.5 meters) from the space station, when a station crew member will use Canadarm2 robotic arm to grapple a fixture on the spacecraft’s cargo module before teams on the ground install the cargo module to an Earth-facing port on the Unity or Harmony module.

On its first flight to the International Space Station, Dream Chaser is scheduled to deliver over 7,800 pounds of cargo. On future missions, Dream Chaser is being designed to stay attached to the station for up to 75 days and deliver as much as 11,500 pounds of cargo. Cargo can be loaded onto the spacecraft as late as 24 hours before launch.

Dream Chaser will remain at the space station for about 45 days before it is uninstalled using Canadarm2. The spacecraft can land as quickly as 11 to 15 hours after departure, and there are daily opportunities if weather criteria are met.

Dream Chaser can return over 3,500 pounds of cargo and experiment samples to Earth, while over 8,700 pounds of trash can be disposed of during reentry using its cargo module.

Sierra Space was awarded a NASA Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract in 2016. Under this contract, the Dream Chaser spaceplane fleet (including Tenacity), will provide a minimum of seven uncrewed cargo service missions to and from the International Space Station, carrying critical supplies like food, water, and science experiments.

Tenacity represents an uncrewed spiritual successor to the space shuttle, and at 30 feet (9 meters) long, it’s roughly a quarter of the total length of the space shuttle orbiters.

In 2017, Sierra Space conducted a pivotal test flight where the team tested the Dream Chaser hardware during an autonomously conducted atmospheric test flight. On descent over the California desert, the Dream Chaser test vehicle autonomously deployed its landing gear, touching down on the runway at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, demonstrating the spaceplane’s unique lifting body design.

For the return flight, Dream Chaser can safely return critical cargo including supplies and science experiments to Earth at less than 1.5g’s on compatible commercial runways, making cargo accessible faster.

Sierra Space’s Shooting Star™ cargo module is a flexible 15-foot transport and cargo vehicle to be used as an attachment to the Dream Chaser spaceplane.

Dream Chaser, with the help of Shooting Star, can deliver up to 12,000 pounds of pressurized and unpressurized cargo to low-Earth orbit.

Credit: Sierra Space and NASA

United Launch Alliance's brand new launch vehicle, Vulcan Centaur is a two-stage-to-orbit, heavy-lift launch vehicle. It will replace both of ULA's existing launchers (Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy) which are retiring.

Specs

Height: 61.6 m (202 ft)

Diameter: 5.4 m (18 ft)

Mass: 546,700 kg (1,205,300 lb)

Stages: 2 and 0, 2, 4 or 6 boosters

Capacity

Payload to low Earth orbit (28.7°): Mass: 27,200 kg (60,000 lb)

Payload to geostationary transfer orbit (27.0°): Mass 14,400 kg (31,700 lb)

Payload to geostationary orbit: Mass 7,200 kg (15,900 lb)

Payload to trans-lunar injection: Mass 12,100 kg (26,700 lb)

On Monday, January 8th, 2024, United Launch Alliance successfully launched the maiden flight of its new Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The new launcher is powered by Blue Origin's BE-4 engines and marks the first time the Bezos-owned company's hardware has flown an orbital mission.

United Launch Alliance has a proven and uninterrupted record of launching many of NASA's flagship science missions like the Perseverance Mars rover, the Parker Solar Probe, and sample return mission OSIRIS-REx. Just to name a few.

ULA Chief Tory Bruno remarked on the seemingly perfect maiden launch by noting that the only problem that arose was a broken coffee machine in launch control. It was fixed by a nearby rocket scientist before liftoff.

Praise came from across the industry, and included was a congratulatory reply on X from Bruno's nemesis SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Many expect Vulcan to provide some competition in the Falcon-dominated launch market.

Configurations

Vulcan is available in four standard offering configurations including zero, two, four, and six solid rocket booster (SRB) variants.

Payload Fairings

The spacecraft is encapsulated in a 5.4-m- (17.7-ft-) diameter payload fairing (PLF), a sandwich composite structure made with a vented aluminum-honeycomb core and graphite-epoxy face sheets. The bisector (two-piece shell) PLF encapsulates the spacecraft. The payload attach fitting (PAF) is a similar sandwich composite structure creating the mating interface from the spacecraft to the second stage and payload fairing. The PLF separates using a debris-free horizontal and vertical separation system with spring packs and frangible joint assembly. The payload fairing comes in the 15.5-m (51-ft) standard and 21.3-m (70-ft) long configurations.

Multi-Manifest
With multi-manifest, two or more spacecraft are integrated into a launch vehicle — optimizing mass to orbit and enabling missions. Depending on the size of the spacecraft, multi-manifesting on a Vulcan rocket can be done in several ways. The Aft Bulkhead Carrier (ABC) interfaces at the aft end of the Centaur upper stage and can carry up to 24U CubeSats weighing 80 kg each. The Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA Ring) is located between the upper stage and the primary payload and can accommodate 4-6 payload modules weighing up to 318 kg each. Finally, for small satellites exceeding the mass of an ESPA capability, the Multi-Payload Canister System is a load-bearing separating canister that can be utilized to enclose an aft small satellite while supporting a forward traditional large satellite.

Main Engine

Booster propulsion is provided by a pair of BE-4 engines, manufactured by Blue Origin.

Solid Rocket Boosters

Vulcan integrates up to six Northrop Grumman Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM) 63XL Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs). They are constructed out of a graphite-epoxy composite with the throttle profile designed into the propellant grain.

Upper Stage

Vulcan will rely on two RL10C engines to power its second stage. Logging a record of nearly 400 successful flights and nearly 700 firings in space, RL10 engines, manufactured by Aerojet Rocketdyne, harness the power of high-energy liquid hydrogen. The RL10 boasts a precision control system and restart capability to accurately place payloads into orbit.

Courtesy of ULA

Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) is a significant launch site located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. Originally built in the 1960s, SLC-41 was designed to support the Titan III and Titan IV rocket programs. Throughout its history, the pad has been used for various missions, including the deployment of military and reconnaissance satellites. A notable launch from SLC-41 was the Cassini spacecraft mission, which began its journey to Saturn in 1997.

In the early 2000s, SLC-41 was repurposed to support the Atlas V rocket, operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA). This transition involved extensive upgrades to the pad’s infrastructure and the installation of new ground support equipment to accommodate the Atlas V. These modifications ensured that SLC-41 could meet the requirements of modern space missions.

Under ULA’s management, SLC-41 has hosted a range of important launches, including the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which successfully landed the Curiosity rover on Mars in August 2012, and the launch of GPS III satellites, enhancing global positioning capabilities. The pad has also supported Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule, which is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The Starliner capsule, designed to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station, has been launched from SLC-41 to support crewed missions.

Looking to the future, SLC-41 is set to support ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. The Vulcan Centaur is intended to replace the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets, marking a new era in ULA’s launch capabilities with enhanced performance and cost-efficiency. The pad’s infrastructure will be further updated to accommodate this next-generation rocket.

As Dream Chaser approaches the orbiting laboratory, it will hold a final time approximately 38 feet (11.5 meters) from the space station, when a station crew member will use Canadarm2 robotic arm to grapple a fixture on the spacecraft’s cargo module before teams on the ground install the cargo module to an Earth-facing port on the Unity or Harmony module.

On its first flight to the International Space Station, Dream Chaser is scheduled to deliver over 7,800 pounds of cargo. On future missions, Dream Chaser is being designed to stay attached to the station for up to 75 days and deliver as much as 11,500 pounds of cargo. Cargo can be loaded onto the spacecraft as late as 24 hours prior to launch. Dream Chaser can return over 3,500 pounds of cargo and experiment samples to Earth, while over 8,700 pounds of trash can be disposed of during reentry using its cargo module.

Courtesy of NASA.

Download the Supercluster app to track spacecraft traffic and view crewmembers aboard the International Space Station and China’s Tiangong Space Station.

Alternatively, you can use the web version of our Stations Dashboard on Supercluster's website.

We now track "Arrivals and Departures" for both stations through a new "Timetable" feature, covering crew rotations and cargo resupply missions.

You can also switch between the ISS and Tiangong to see their relative positions over Earth on our mini-map.

A recent update allows users to enable push alerts for notifications when space stations pass over their location.