Sierra Nevada Corporation Announces Milestone in Dream Chaser Program

In this milestone, SNC and NASA reviewed the overall certification strategy, and verification and validation activities for the DCSS. The DCSS systems certification review included the Dream Chaser spacecraft, the Atlas V launch vehicle, and ground and mission systems, all of which must work together before the spacecraft can transport humans.  SNC delivered nearly 6,000 pages of technical support documentation and successfully met the exit criteria in its agreement for Milestone 7. The passage of this milestone confirmed SNC’s integrated certification strategy, process and plans are now complete, further documenting that the DCSS design is maturing toward compliance with the functional, performance and interface requirements to operate in its intended environments.

“The completion and validation by NASA of Milestone 7 is a major step in leading us to our first crewed, orbital flight of the Dream Chaser Space System,” said Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president and head of SNC’s Space Systems. “We have now completed 70 percent of our CCiCap contract.  With each day, each test, and each successful milestone passing, we are moving one step closer to restoring America’s place as a leader in human spaceflight building the nation’s next generation crew transportation system.”