BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A test version of Sierra Nevada's Shooting Star cargo module arrived at the Kennedy Space Center this week ahead of its planned 2021 launch with the Dream Chaser spacecraft.
The Shooting Star is a 15-foot attachment to the shuttle-like Dream Chaser that will be used on future NASA commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station.
And it'll be a one-way trip, as the module will burn up on reentry, hence the name, Shooting Star.
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The Dream Chaser will make at least six launches to the International Space Station in the fall of 2021, and the Shooting Star cargo module will carry an additional 10,000 pounds of pressurized and unpressurized payloads to the ISS.
“What it's designed to do is take critical supplies science experiments and payloads both external and internal up to the space station,” said Steve Lindsey, senior vice president of space exploration systems for Sierra Nevada Corp.
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While the Shooting Star will burn up on reentry, the Dream Chaser spacecraft is a reusable, multi-mission space vehicle.
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