The first commercial spa for the world will not immediately launch

The highly anticipated launch of Dream Chaser Spaceplane can be delayed again while Sierra Space continues to test his experimental vehicle.

The inaugural Dream Chaser, appointed Tenacity, is planned for a launch date in 2025. However, recent comments from a NASA official revealed that there was much more work to do before the Spacecelane was ready to go to the international space station and that it is very unlikely to respect its deadline.

“We still have some of our integrated security criticisms to do, and we are being updated to our two hours to try to understand where it really puts us,” said Dana Weigel, head of the ISS program during recent press information, according to Aerospace America. “Sierra works on it, so I need to wait and simply recover information to see where they think that some of these work behaves.”

Dream Chaser has been years. NASA allocated Sierra Space A Commercial Repuply Services 2 (CRS-2) in 2016 to provide at least seven freight deliveries at ISS. The company based in Colorado originally planned so that the inaugural flight of Dream Chaser took place in 2020, but the Spaceplane underwent several delays due to technical problems and certification obstacles. Although its launch date in 2025 still appears in the NASA calendar, the recent comments from Weigel do not seem too promising.

Dream Chaser is designed to embark on a low terrestrial orbit at the top of a rocket but survive an atmospheric back to school and perform track landings on the surface on its return, similar to the NASA space shuttle. The futuristic vehicle has foldable wings that are completely unfolding once in flight, generating power via solar networks. The spacept is also equipped with thermal shield tiles to protect it from high atmospheric back -to -school temperatures.

“I think everyone really underestimates what it takes to assemble a complex spacecraft. I mean, you are looking at it right now with Boeing Starliner, you are looking at it with Sierra, but if we remember on average, it takes eight to 10 years for a spacecraft to prepare and fly”, Weigel told journalists during the speech.

In addition to the SpaceX dragon spacecraft, NASA was unlucky to move forward with another means of transport for its crew and cargo at ISS. After the lessons learned from Boeing’s fiasco Starliner, which left a crew blocked on the space station for nine months, NASA can take additional precautions before launching tenacity at the ISS.

One of the remaining tasks to be performed before its first launch is a certification of Dream Chaser’s software. Starliner experienced significant software problems during his first orbital test flight in December 2019, which highlighted problems with the software certification of the spaceship.

Another obstacle that is held in the Dream Chaser path to space is its designated launch vehicle. For his first flight, Tenity will be launched at the top of the Vulcan Centaur rocket of United Launch Alliance. The 200 -feet high (61 meter) rocket experienced a recall anomaly during its second flight in October 2024, which delayed its certification process for national security missions. Vulcan is still waiting for the certification of the American space force and has a sustained calendar to attend once it is ready to control these missions.

Dream Chaser is the reincarnation of the new generation of the space shuttle that lovers of space flights were waiting for, but they may have to wait a little longer to see it fly.