Dream Chaser

Dream Chaser is a lifting-body vehicle -- it generates aerodynamic lift from its fuselage shape rather than from wings. The design traces its lineage through NASA''s HL-20 concept of the 1990s back to the Soviet BOR-4 lifting body tested in the 1980s, creating an unexpected genealogy that connects American and Soviet aerospace engineering.

The cargo variant, Tenacity, is designed to carry up to 12,000 pounds of pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the International Space Station, launched on ULA''s Vulcan Centaur rocket. Unlike capsules that splash down in the ocean, Dream Chaser lands on conventional runways, enabling rapid access to time-sensitive experiments and payloads.

Sierra Space has a NASA Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract for at least seven cargo missions to the ISS. A crewed variant is planned for future development, which would carry up to seven astronauts. Dream Chaser represents the persistence of the spaceplane concept that began with the Space Shuttle and continues to appeal to engineers who envision airline-like operations in space.