WASHINGTON — After recently winning a major contract to build military satellites, Sierra Space is aiming to capture a larger share of the national security market in new sectors like in-orbit services and transportation.
Sierra Space is perhaps best known for developing Dream Chaser, a reusable spaceplane designed to ferry cargo and supplies to the International Space Station, and for partnering with Blue Origin on the construction of a commercially developed space station.
But the company also is gaining traction in the national security space business, with $1.3 billion worth of defense-related orders, Erik Daehler, Sierra Space’s vice president of orbital systems and services, told SpaceNews.
Daehler, who previously worked at defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Boeing, is overseeing the transition of Sierra Space’s orbital vehicle technologies from their civil and commercial roots into militarized configurations to support defense operations.
The company’s $1.3 billion defense backlog includes a $740 million deal announced in January to produce 18 missile-tracking satellites for the U.S. Space Force’s next-generation missile-tracking satellite network built by the Space Development Agency.
Other orders are from undisclosed defense customers, Daehler said. “We have active contracts with major acquisition organizations.”
Opportunities in ‘SAML’
Formed in 2021 as a spinout from Sierra Nevada Corporation, Sierra Space has tried to carve out a niche as a so-called new space company that serves both commercial and government customers.
The company is eyeing the emerging market for “space access, mobility and logistics” services, known as SAML, which has $40 million earmarked for it in the Space Force’s 2025 budget proposal.
To meet the military’s anticipated need for SAML services, Sierra Space has designed a satellite equipped for precision rendezvous and close-proximity operations around other…
Read the full article here
