Dream Chaser cleared to begin full-scale production

spacenews.com ^ | December 18, 2018 | Jeff Foust —

[BenLurkin]

SNC was one of three companies, along with incumbents SpaceX and Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems), to receive CRS-2 contracts from NASA in January 2016. Each company is guaranteed at least six missions to the ISS under the contracts.

To carry out the missions, SNC proposed a cargo version of the Dream Chaser spacecraft it had been developing for NASA’s commercial crew program. Although the vehicle was not selected by NASA when it awarded contracts instead to Boeing and SpaceX in 2014, SNC adapted the design with foldable wings, allowing it to fit within many existing payload fairings, and a cargo module.

While many elements of Dream Chaser were already in production, this review confirmed the overall design was ready for full-scale assembly and testing.

...

The cargo version of Dream Chaser can carry up to 5,500 kilograms of cargo to the International Space Station and return 1,850 kilograms to Earth in a runway landing. The cargo module, which burns up on reentry, can dispose of an additional 3,400 kilograms of cargo.

The first Dream Chaser launch, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5, is planned for no earlier than late 2020, a date that will depend on the status of vehicle development and cargo needs for the ISS.

[Army Air Corps]

Ping.

[rktman]

Thanks.

[Snickering Hound]

Looks like first 20 seconds of '$6 Million Dollar Man'.

[Yo-Yo]

[BenLurkin]

No computers on that craft. It may even have had hydraulic controls.

[Army Air Corps]

It reminds me of the HL-20.

[G Larry]

Not much progress from 1960:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-20_Dyna-Soar#/media/File:NASA_Color_Dyna_Soar.jpg

[jmcenanly]

The M2 f2 didn't have the vertical stabilizing fin in the center, as did the successor M2F3 of the HL-10, of which this is a derivative Here is a short video of the accident.

[SunkenCiv]

fwiw, I like the idea, but I'm not too sure they'll get it flightworthy. They've got more engineering depth than was originally the case. A few years ago they tried a drop test, and hadn't designed landing gear, so they used a long-proven set from a US fighter design -- and crashed it anyway.