Sierra Space

Sierra Space was founded in 2021 as a spin-off of Sierra Nevada Corporation's space systems business, becoming an independent commercial space company backed by significant venture investment. The company builds on Sierra Nevada's decades of space heritage, including work on the Space Shuttle program and numerous NASA and defense space systems.

Sierra Space's flagship program is Dream Chaser®, a reusable lifting-body cargo spaceplane developed under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract to deliver cargo to the International Space Station and return with runway landing capability — offering gentler reentry conditions than capsule splashdown for sensitive cargo and science payloads. The company is also developing the LIFE™ (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) expandable habitat module, an inflatable space station module designed to provide large interior volume from a compact launch configuration, intended for use in Sierra Space's proposed Orbital Reef commercial space station developed in partnership with Blue Origin.

Beyond human spaceflight infrastructure, Sierra Space develops in-space manufacturing capabilities, defense space systems including satellite components and space domain awareness technology, and works with NASA, the US Space Force, and commercial partners on next-generation space infrastructure. The company represents part of the broader shift toward commercial low Earth orbit infrastructure as NASA transitions away from sole reliance on the International Space Station.