14 DAY TRIAL // Officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), in the United States, announce that the two organizations have signed an agreement yesterday, January 8, on a potential cooperation between the two in constructing the Dream Chaser spacecraft.
This vehicle is very similar in design and capabilities to the former NASA space shuttles, but significantly smaller. It is being developed by SNC to compete with companies such as SpaceX and Orbital Science Corporation for NASA contracts to resupply the International Space Station.
Whereas its main competitors decided to opt for designs involving capsule-like vehicles, SNC opted to mimic the capabilities of the space shuttles, an effort that has already attracted the attention of the German space agency (DLR), Space reports.
The new agreement holds that ESA will spend the next year investigating potential technologies and/or hardware that SNC may include in the Dream Chaser, with the ultimate goal of reducing development costs. When completed, the spacecraft will be able to carry up to 7 astronauts to low-Earth orbit.