According to the international space station's flight plan, at the end of November 2022, the United States will launch the first Dream Chaser winged cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. The United States originally planned to launch the Dreamcatcher cargo spacecraft in September 2021, but the launch was postponed to 2022 due to the delay in the development of the spacecraft due to the impact of the new crown epidemic.
The Winged Cargo Spacecraft "Dreamcatcher" was developed by the Sierra Nevada Company of the United States, with a length of about 14 meters, a maximum take-off weight of 20 tons, an uplink capacity of 5.5 tons, and the ability to return to Earth with goods downstream. The Dreamcatcher spacecraft takes off vertically on a carrier rocket and can slide and land horizontally like an airplane on its return, reusing it 15 times. In 2016, within the framework of its commercial cargo plan to the International Space Station, NASA ordered the Dreamcatcher spacecraft mission developed by Sierra Nevada for at least six missions. According to the plan, the Dreamcatcher spacecraft was originally scheduled to be launched by the Atlas 552 rocket, but was later launched by the Vulcan carrier rocket at Kajiao, and when it returned, it slid horizontally on the runway of Kajiao Airport.
At present, the International Space Station cargo mission is carried out by Russian "Progress", the United States "Dragon" and "Cygnus" and other cargo spacecraft, the addition of "Dreamcatcher" will make the International Space Station cargo mission more than a reusable cargo spacecraft option, is conducive to reducing the procurement cost of freight launch services.
It is worth mentioning that the "Dreamcatcher" adopts a winged layout of the flying mechanism, but also uses rocket booster to take off, horizontal slide and land, to some extent, is a cargo replica of the space shuttle, is another continuous existence of space shuttle technology. At the same time, "Dreamcatcher" also provides a reference for other countries in the world, and the winged layout of the flying mechanism cargo spacecraft will become an option for major space countries to develop a new generation of cargo spacecraft, in this regard, "Dreamcatcher" will lead the world trend in some way.
Sierra Nevada also reached an agreement with the European Space Agency to further use the Dreamcatcher cargo spacecraft in Europe's space research program after it completes its 2020s space station mission. The United Nations also decided in 2016 to use the Dreamcatcher cargo spacecraft for the 2021 Earth orbit program to help developing countries transport space research payloads. In this way, the "Dreamcatcher" has been recognized by many parties before it has been applied, which shows the feasibility of this scheme [2].
Author: Great White Gao Guo
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Resources
[1] Partial citation from the official website of the Russian Satellite News Agency https://sputniknews.cn/science/202110201034674633/?
[2] Partly quoted from the official website of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology http://www.calt.com/n689/c10174/content.html