Almost exactly seven years after a NASA con launched the Dream Chaser into reality, the much-anticipated spaceplane is on track to become the first operational commercial lifting body when it makes its planned orbital debut later in 2023. But in the years since NASA's 2016 commercial resupply (CRS-2) contract award to support the International Space Station (ISS), the Dream Chaser also has become the vanguard for developer Sierra Space's expansive space ecosystem business plan. Embracing everything from crewed and uncrewed vehicles to reusable cargo modules, on-orbit satellite production, solar arrays and a constellation of space habitats, the vision-if fulfilled-is designed to make Sierra Space a key player in the low-Earth-orbit (LEO) economy of the future.
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