“We wanted to have a fuel system that was green instead of using hypergolics, so we could land it on a runway and we could walk up to the vehicle without being in hazmat suits,” Tom Vice, then Sierra’s president, informed Ars in late 2023. “That was hard, I have to say.”

Obviously it still is because, according to Weigel, the procedure to end up screening of the propulsion system and license it for an uncrewed spaceflight stays continuous.

“We still have some of our integrated safety reviews to do, and we’re in the process with updating both of our schedules to try to understand where does that really put us,” she stated. “And so Sierra’s working on that, and so I need to wait and just get information back from them to see where they think some of that work lines out.”

Objective might not berth with ISS

According to one source, Sierra is thinking about an adjustment to its very first objective to reduce the accreditation duration.

The business had actually prepared to fly the automobile close enough to the spaceport station such that it might be caught and berthed to the orbiting lab. One alternative now under factor to consider is an objective that would bring Dream Chaser close enough to the station to check crucial elements of the lorry in flight however not have it berth.

This would increase self-confidence in the spacecraft’s propulsion system and supply the information NASA and partner area firms require to clear the car to technique and berth with the station on its 2nd flight. This would need an adjustment of the business’s agreement with NASA, and a last choice has actually not yet been reached on whether to carry out a flyby objective before a real berthing.

It appears extremely not likely that Dream Chaser will be all set for its launching spaceflight this year for these technical factors. Another difficulty is the accessibility of its Vulcan launch automobile. After years of hold-ups, Vulcan is lastly due to make its very first nationwide security launch as early as this coming Sunday. Presuming this launch achieves success, Vulcan has a hectic manifest in the coming months for the United States Space Force.

Provided this, it doubts when a Vulcan launch automobile will appear for Dream Chaser, which was at first designated to fly on Vulcan’s 2nd flight. Due to the fact that Dream Chaser was not all set last fall, that rocket flew with a mass simulator on this 2nd launch, back in October 2024.