Sierra Space has built and tested a full-scale version of an inflatable structure at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center as part of its efforts to develop commercial space stations. The company said Monday the ultimate burst pressure test was focused on the Large Integrated Flexible Environment habitat's restraint layer developed in partnership with ILC Dover.

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Sierra Space raised $290 million in equity during its Series B funding, increasing its total investment to $1.7 billion. A Japanese consortium led the private capital infusion that elevated the commercial space company’s valuation to $5.3 billion. MUFG, Japan’s largest bank, along with Kanematsu and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, formed the lead investor group in the latest funding round, Sierra Space said.

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Sierra Space will advance the development of a 35,000 lbf thrust upper stage engine under a 27-month, $22.6 million firm-fixed-price contract from the U.S. Air Force. Work for the maturation of Vortex advanced upper stage engine or VR35K-A will involve designing flight-weight engine components through the use of component and integrated breadboard engine test data, […] More

Erik Daehler, former senior director at Lockheed Martin, has joined Sierra Nevada Corp.‘s space-focused business arm as vice president of orbital systems and services, according to his LinkedIn post. The executive has over two decades of aerospace and defense experience and is now responsible for the development of satellite products and services at Sierra Space. […] More

The space-focused business of Sierra Nevada Corp. will provide Maxar Technologies with solar power services and production capability to support 16 satellites that are used for the latter’s proliferated low Earth orbit spacecraft platform. Sierra Space said Monday its solar arrays, which are currently in production, will be used to meet the requirements of the […] More

Sierra Nevada Corp. has wrapped up a critical design review of a 35,000 lbf thrust upper stage engine its Sierra Space subsidiary co-developed with the Air Force Research Laboratory. The Vortex upper stage engine or VR35K-A demonstrated safe operation on the test stand, with Sierra Space also showcasing engine and equipment technical readiness, concept of […] More

Sierra Nevada Corp.‘s space business and a Spirit AeroSystems subsidiary have teamed up to boost the production of cargo modules for a space transport vehicle aimed at supporting NASA resupply missions. Sierra Space said Tuesday it will work with Spirit Defense & Space on Shooting Star cargo module system design, fabrication, assembly, integration and test […] More

A Sierra Nevada subsidiary is close to completing the first Dream Chaser spaceplane being built at a facility in Colorado, SpaceNews reported Friday. Sierra Space has yet to install thermal protection systems and other components into the vehicle, dubbed Tenacity. Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice said the spaceplane’s structural testing is already completed and the […] More

Sierra Space is using Siemens’ portfolio of software and services, Xcelerator, to establish a digital engineering environment to support the development of the Dream Chaser spaceplane and Large Integrated Flexible Environment commercial habitation and science habitat. Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice said in a statement published Wednesday Siemens’ digital engineering tools will enable the company […] More

Sierra Space has partnered with Belcan to leverage the latter’s engineering capabilities to support the space company’s efforts focused on building commercial low-Earth orbit space transportation and infrastructures. The multi-year agreement covers design, analysis, systems and software engineering, program management, manufacturing engineering, supply chain technologies and other services for the Sierra Space transportation and destination […] More

Blue Origin and Sierra Space will jointly create a new space station that will operate in low Earth orbit to foster development and human space exploration. The Orbital Reef station is envisioned to support research, industrial, international and commercial pursuits to expand the scope of markets applicable to space, Blue Origin said Monday. The future […] More

The Federal Aviation Administration has come up with a project website to inform the public about the proposed plan of a Sierra Nevada subsidiary to use the Space Florida Shuttle Landing Facility in Titusville, Florida, for reentry operations of its Dream Chaser vehicle. FAA said Friday Dream Chaser is a reusable reentry spaceplane from Sierra […] More