The shuttle's successors

At first sight the Dream Chaser looks like a smaller version of the Space Shuttle, the vehicle it is designed to replace. In fact its origins can be traced back to the designs for Nasa's unfinished HL-20, a winged craft that was to serve as the lifeboat for the International Space Station.

"Space is hard and we know that"

Mark Sirangelo, Sierra Nevada Corporation

Dream Chaser

• 2015 launch date
• Atlas V launch vehicle
• 7 total crew capacity
• $100m Nasa funding so far*
• Runway landings

Like the shuttle, Dream Chaser's primary mission is to carry crew and cargo into low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station. Its developer, the Sierra Nevada Corporation, says the re-usable craft will be able to land on conventional runways.

Pictured above left is a scale model of Nasa's HL-20, the Dream Chaser's inspiration. On the right, a wire-frame image, again of the HL-20. Before the Dream Chaser launches in 2015, it needs to pass a safety checklist that includes, atmospheric, orbital and crew-rated testing.

*Total funding given in rounds one and two of Nasa's Commercial Crew Development programme (CCDev).

Source