Sierra Space Continues to Lead the Industry in the Development of the First Business-Ready Commercial Space Station
May 02 2024 - 10:08AM
Business Wire
Second Full-Scale Structural Test Scheduled
for June at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
Sierra Space Details Portfolio of Expandable
Space Station Modules for 5m, 7m and 9m Rocket Fairings
Sierra Space, a leading commercial space-tech company and next
generation defense-tech prime building a platform in space to
benefit life on Earth and protect the freedom of economic activity
in the Orbital Age®, announced today that its expandable space
station technology is scheduled for its seventh key validation
test, and second full-scale structural test, this June at NASA’s
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240502490679/en/
Sierra Space's second full-scale test
next month will be another Ultimate Burst Pressure (UBP) test to
validate the technology’s ability to perform flawlessly in the
unforgiving conditions of space. (Photo: Sierra Space)
Completion of successful testing next month will accelerate this
innovative technology to on-orbit operations. The test article in
the company's historic first full-scale burst test last December
reached 77 psi before it burst, which well exceeded (+27%) NASA’s
recommended level of 60.8 psi (maximum operating pressure of 15.2
psi multiplied by a safety factor of four). Sierra Space is the
only space company that has advanced to full-scale structural
testing of commercial space station technology.
The company's second full-scale test next month will be another
Ultimate Burst Pressure (UBP) test to validate the technology’s
ability to perform flawlessly in the unforgiving conditions of
space. The test article, currently in assembly, is equivalent to
one third the volume of the entire International Space Station
(ISS).
The upcoming test will also mark another milestone in Sierra
Space’s co-development of Orbital Reef with Blue Origin, along with
the technical maturation of its LIFE® (Large Integrated Flexible
Environment) product line of expandable “softgoods” modules. The
modules are launched (packed) inside a standard rocket fairing and
can expand up to 6x in size once on orbit. The LIFE pressure shell
is constructed of high-strength woven fabric materials, or
softgoods, consisting primarily of Vectran, which form rigid
structures when pressurized on orbit.
In addition to this technology being used by Sierra Space and
Blue Origin as part of their Orbital Reef partnership, it will also
be employed by Sierra Space for the company’s pathfinder space
station, which will be focused on biotech use cases.
“At Sierra Space we are intent on shaping a new era in
humanity’s exploration and discovery in Low Earth Orbit and
beyond,” said Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice. “Our expandable space
station technology combined with our highly reusable Dream Chaser
spaceplane significantly decreases the cost of in-space
infrastructure, opening the door to a commercialized LEO. With
these technologies now rapidly approaching operational phases, we
are seeing the realization of a new era in humanity’s ability to
live and work in space in the Orbital Age.”
With this impending test, Sierra Space will have completed seven
key stress tests in just two years: five of them on subscale test
articles and two UPB tests on full-scale LIFE 285 units. These
tests support the LIFE softgoods product line that continues to
expand and push this game-changing technology to new heights.
Earlier this year, Sierra Space introduced LIFE 500, which is 500
cubic meters of volume in a single launch inside a five-meter
rocket fairing. Design and test planning have begun for this next
expandable article with a planned burst test in Q1 of 2025. With
the introduction of the LIFE 500, Sierra Space's expandable product
line now consists of the LIFE 10, LIFE 285 and LIFE 500 units, with
larger LIFE 1400 and LIFE 5000 modules on the roadmap when seven
and nine-meter-sized rocket fairings become available on larger
launch vehicles currently in development.
“Sierra Space’s expandable space station technology, based on
the LIFE habitat product line, leverage a discriminating technology
that has no equal. The product line-based solution is built upon
architecture and geometry that utilize low volume launches that
become high volume space stations,” said Sierra Space Vice
President of Space Destinations, Shawn Buckley. “Being able to
rapidly apply lessons learned at the component level along with
integrated system results, enables Sierra Space to quickly design
an increased number of habitat volume solutions for any market –
LEO, cislunar, lunar and deep space.”
Sierra Space is involved in several NASA-sponsored initiatives
that directly support space commercialization: CCSC-2
(Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities), CLD (Commercial
LEO Destinations), and NextSTEP (Next Step Technologies for
Exploration Partnerships); all of these programs provide NASA
insight into the ongoing Sierra Space development activities along
with collaborative efforts in developing and testing materials and
integrated systems for space applications. Sierra Space is
dedicated to these partnership- and resource-sharing activities
that provide value-added synergies as the company leads space
habitation in the emerging Orbital Age.
Sierra Space is also continuing its LIFE10 development and
testing campaign with two additional tests planned for 2024. LIFE10
unique ability to “bi-directional” packed provides a small compact
size at launch in diameter, length, volume, and mass making it a
perfect solution for space station use case solutions – science
airlock, storage facility and along with a discriminating
technology for lunar surface applications.
About Sierra Space
Sierra Space is a leading commercial space company at the
forefront of innovation and the commercialization of space in the
Orbital Age®, building an end-to-end business and technology
platform in space to benefit life on Earth. With more than 30 years
and 500 missions of space flight heritage, the company is
reinventing both space transportation with Dream Chaser®, the
world’s only commercial spaceplane, and the future of space
destinations with the company’s inflatable and expandable space
station technology. Highly scalable and flexible, this innovative
“softgoods” technology will define a new generation of space
stations. Sierra Space also builds and delivers a host of systems
and subsystems across solar power, mechanics and motion control,
environmental control, life support, propulsion and thermal
control, offering myriad space-as-a-service solutions for the new
space economy.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240502490679/en/
Alex Walker, Sierra Space (303) 803-2297 |
alex.walker@sierraspace.com