Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser ‘Tenacity’ arrived at Kennedy Space Center on May 18, and is now inside the Space Systems Processing Facility’s (SSPF) High Bay, where it will undergo final testing and prelaunch processing ahead of its maiden launch scheduled for later this year. The novel spacecraft will undergo acoustic and electromagnetic interference and compatibility testing, completion of work on the spaceplane’s thermal protection system, and final payload integration in the SSPF prior to launching later this year.

The move came after Tenacity finished its environmental test suite NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. “Successful completion of an incredibly rigorous environmental testing campaign in close partnership with NASA is a significant milestone and puts Dream Chaser on track for operations later this year,” said Sierra Space CEO, Tom Vice on May 9th. “This is the year that we transition from rigorous research and development to regular orbital operations and – in doing so – transform the way we connect space and Earth.”

Dream Chaser will be the first vehicle to orbit from a legacy of six decades of experimental lifting body vehicle research. Previous iterations include NASA’s HL-20 spaceplane concept of the early 1990s, the X-20 Dyna-Soar, as well as Northrop M2-F2, Northrop M2-F3, Northrop HL-10, Martin Marietta X-24A and X-24B, and Martin Marietta X-23 PRIME vehicles.

On its first mission, Dream Chaser will deliver supplies to ISS, as well as test the vehicle on orbit through re-entry and landing. That mission should happen later this year aboard a ULA Vulcan rocket.

Dream Chaser Legacy Vehicles

_{Credits
HL-10: NASA
HL-20 1: NASA
HL-20 2: NASA
M2-F2: NASA
X24-A: NASA
X-24-B: NASA
X-23 PRIME: National Archives via Dwayne Day}