Sierra Nevada Corporation (also styled SNC) is an American aerospace, defense, electronics, engineering and manufacturing corporation that specializes in aircraft modification, integration and other space technologies. The corporation contracts with the US Department of Defense, NASA, and private spaceflight companies. The corporation is headquartered in Sparks, Nevada, and has 36 locations in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Turkey.
As of October 2020, the corporation has participated in over 500 successful space missions, including 14 missions to Mars. In 2021, the corporation created the subsidiary, Sierra Space, to continue working on the development of the Dream Chaser spaceplane and Commercial Space Station with Blue Origin The organization is a multi-billion-dollar corporation with over 4,000 employees. Its main business is working with the US Department of Defense and NASA on contracts.
History The corporation was founded in 1963 by John Chisholm with a few employees working out of an airplane hangar in the Reno Stead Airport. The corporation was acquired in 1994 by Fatih Özmen and Eren Özmen. Fatih Ozmen was hired in 1981. The corporation has since grown into a multi-billion-dollar corporation with over 4,000 employees. The company's main business is completing US Department of Defense and NASA contracts.
In 2016, the corporation built a aircraft modification facility in Meridianville, Alabama, alongside Madison County Executive Airport. The facility was expanded with an additional building, which could hold seven Beechcraft Super King Air/C-12/MC-12S planes. SNC began modifying commercial aircraft into military surveillance aircraft, such as the US Army's EMARSS platform.
On September 18, 2024, the People's Republic of China announced sanctions on nine U.S. military industrial companies, including Sierra Nevada Corporation, for their participation in arms sales to Taiwan.China hits 9 US firms with property freeze over weapons sales to Taiwan
Space systems In December 2008, the corporation completed its acquisition of SpaceDev, to develop an orbital spacecraft called the Dream Chaser., video comments at 11:30 ff. In April 2021, the corporation announced it would create Sierra Space, an independent commercial space corporation to develop the reusable Dream Chaser spaceplane and work with Blue Origin to create a commercial space station.
Dream Chaser spaceplane
In February 2010, Sierra Nevada Corporation was awarded $20 million in seed money in phase 1 of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program for the development of the Dream Chaser. Of the $50 million awarded in the phase 1 CCDev program, Dream Chaser's award represented the largest share of the funds.
In August 2012, NASA announced new agreements with the Sierra Nevada Corporation and two other companies to design and develop the next generation of U.S. human spaceflight capabilities, enabling a launch of astronauts from U.S. soil within the next five years. Advances made by these companies under newly signed Space Act Agreements through the agency's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative were intended to ultimately lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for government and commercial customers. As part of this agreement, Sierra Nevada Corporation was awarded $212.5 million to continue the development and testing of its Dream Chaser spacecraft. The Dream Chaser is a revival of NASA's HL-20 Personnel Launch System lifting-body design.
In July 2014, the corporation signed a letter of cooperation with Tuskegee University to collaborate on efforts related to SNC's Dream Chaser.PRWeb.com: "Tuskegee University Joins Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser Team", PRWeb, July 24, 2014 In August 2014, Lockheed Martin and Sierra Nevada Corporation unveiled the composite airframe of the Dream Chaser, which was used to conduct its first orbital launch in 2016.
Internally the Dream Chaser program team is frequently referred to as the "Dream Team." The team includes well-known aerospace industry partners such as Lockheed Martin and United Launch Alliance, NASA centers and universities across the United States, small businesses such as Craig Technologies, as well as the European, German and Japanese space agencies.Doug Messier (August 6, 2014). "Sierra Nevada Keeps Expanding Dream Chaser Team". Parabolic Arc.
In September 2014, Sierra Nevada Corporation lost the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract to SpaceX and Boeing, which NASA chose as the two companies funded to develop systems to transport U.S. crews to and from the space station. Boeing won $4.2 billion and SpaceX won $2.6 billion to complete and certify their spacecraft by 2017. NASA deemed SNC's proposal less mature than SpaceX's or Boeing.Norris, Guy (11 October 2014). Why NASA Rejected Sierra "Nevada's Commercial Crew Vehicle". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Accessed 13 October 2014.
In the selection statement, Bill Gerstenmaier, head of NASA's human exploration and operations directorate, explained the decision by stating that "a winged spacecraft is a more complex design and thus entails more developmental and certification challenges, and therefore may have more technical and schedule risk than expected", and "I consider SNC's design to be at the lowest level of maturity, with significantly more technical work and critical design decisions to accomplish.... SNC's proposal also has more schedule uncertainty." Director Mark Sirangelo said the team was "devastated", and called it "like a death in the family", and Washington Post said the corporation "entered a realm particular to the world of government contracting: that of the big-time corporate loser".
The corporation filed a protest to the GAO against the selection, which was rejected. The Washington Post called the moves to preserve the program "straddling the fine line between faith and delusion, persistence and masochism". While the Dream Chaser was designed to carry passengers, they modified it for cargo and worked through Thanksgiving 2015 to meet a January 2016 bidding deadline. In January 2016, they were awarded a Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2) contract for resupply missions to the International Space Station between 2019 and 2024, guaranteeing a minimum of six launches. The corporation will use United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket as the launch vehicle for Dream Chaser's cargo configuration starting in 2022.
RocketMotorTwo and STPSat-5
The corporation was the main contractor on RocketMotorTwo for Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, and designed the rocket engine for Scaled Composites, including the one used for SpaceShipOne.Leonard David (June 10, 2011). "Virgin Galactic Pushes Private Spaceship Envelope in Test Flights". Space.com. In April 2013, SpaceShipTwo completed its first powered flight test using RocketMotorTwo. After losing the bid for NASA commercial crew, Sierra Nevada reduced the staff working on RocketMotorTwo in September 2014. In late November, the corporation announced the permanent closure of their Poway, California propulsion development facility as they intend to consolidate all propulsion activity in one location, at the facilities at Orbital Technologies Corp.
In October 2014, the United States Department of Defense awarded Sierra Nevada Corporation's Space Systems a contract to develop and build a next-generation science and technology demonstration satellite, known as STPSat-5, for their Space Test Program.
Artemis Human Landing System proposal
SNC Space Systems, working with Dynetics, participated in some early HLS design studies under NASA's HLS Appendix E program. They submitted a HLS proposal to NASA for HLS Appendix H, which was one of three proposals selected for further study, along with Blue Origin and SpaceX. NASA's Stephen Jurczyk identified the fuel drop tanks and low crew module as innovative strengths, but the propulsion system, identified by Scott Manley as SNC's Vortex engines, was a low-maturity risk. Overall, their technical rating and management rating were listed as "very good", making the Dynetics proposal the highest-rated project.
Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) spacecraft SNC concluded a successful two-year on-orbit research mission for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in 2021. The mission utilized the Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) spacecraft in medium Earth orbit (MEO) and helped utilize research and technologies that could advance the potential future deployment of United States Department of Defense (DoD) spacecraft in the harsh radiation environment of MEO.
The three successful DSX physics-based research/experiment areas included: Wave Particle Interaction Experiment (WPIx), Space Weather Experiment (SWx), and Space Environmental Effects (SFx). Robert Johnston, the principal investigator on the science side of the DSX team, commented on the DSX mission: "We will be working the science from this mission for the remainder of our careers ... DSX's contributions in understanding the environment of space are profound to our nation and the DoD."
Other projects
Predator In 2001, SNC was producing landing gear for the Predator drone.
C-145A Skytruck In 2009, the corporation converted the Polish PZL M28 Skytruck into the C-145A Skytruck for the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). One crashed beyond repair in Afghanistan in 2011. Eleven were retired in 2015. In 2016, three were sent to Kenya, two to Costa Rica, two to Nepal, and two to Estonia. SNC took over maintenance of the AFSOC planes in 2017.
Light Air Support Beginning in 2013, the corporation partnered with Embraer to sell the Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano as a Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance aircraft under the USAF's A-29 Super Tucano designation.
Operators: Afghan Security Forces: 26 aircraft were delivered from 2014 to 2017. One part of the contract was for $1.8 billion. Lebanon: six aircraft delivered in 2017–2018. Nigeria: 12 aircraft with weapons packages. The $593 million contract had been on hold since 2015 over human rights issues, but was discussed between President Donald Trump and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in February 2017 and approved later that year. The first plane was completed in 2020. United States: Air Force Special Operations Command's combat aviation advisors: three aircraft. The initial two were in a $129 million contract.
Persistent Wide-Area Airborne Surveillance Gorgon Stare is a remotely controlled, aircraft-based Wide-Area Persistent Surveillance (WAPS) system. Gorgon Stare includes the USAF's only operational day/night persistent wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) capability. The system has flown long-duration sorties daily in multiple theaters since March 2011, providing thousands of hours of direct combat support.
In Spring 2014, the U.S. Air Force deployed the latest generation of Gorgon Stare. The fully upgraded system simultaneously provides a four-fold increase in area coverage with a two-fold improvement in resolution compared to its predecessor. The system features two state-of-the-art imaging sensor turrets—an electro-optical (EO) sensor derived from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) ARGUS technology and an infrared (IR) sensor integrating the largest IR arrays available.AirForceTimes.com: Air Force stands by Gorgon Stare program, by Ben Iannotta - C4ISR Journal Writer, posted Tuesday Jan 25, 2011 14:15:59 EST
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