Spaceport America has inked a memorandum of understanding with Colorado-based Sierra Space. As part of the agreement, the spaceport could serve as a future landing site for the company’s commercial spaceflights.
Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser plane is expected to launch in early 2023, bringing cargo to the International Space Station. With the addition of New Mexico’s Spaceport America, Sierra Space now has potential runways to utilize at the Kennedy Space Center, as well as locations in Huntsville, Alabama; the Oita Airport in Japan; and Spaceport Cornwall in the United Kingdom, according to a press release.
“As a potential landing site for the Dream Chaser spaceplane, we will continue to open affordable access to space for all in the United States and the world,” Scott McLaughlin, executive director of Spaceport America, said in the release. “We are excited to expand the partnership and working relationship with Sierra Space. This MOU also helps highlight the vision for Spaceport America and to help connect other users of both the spaceport and the Dream Chaser to New Mexico.”
With the MOU in place, Sierra Space and Spaceport America will now seek the proper reentry license from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to the release.
Virgin Galactic, a Spaceport America tenant, is set to start its commercial spaceflights out of New Mexico in 2023. That is a delay from its initially planned 2022 launch.
In total, the $218 million Spaceport America development near Truth or Consequences encompasses more than 18,000 acres with support for manufacturing and vertical and horizontal launch space.
