CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Sierra Nevada Corporation is showing off the life-size test version of its Dream Chaser spacecraft with the Shooting Star cargo module at the Kennedy Space Center.

  • "Dream Chaser" Shooting Star module makes debut at KSC
  • Shooting Star module disposed of on every commercial resupply mission
  • First Dream Chaser launch is planned for 2021
  • Get more space coverage

It will be the third commercial cargo carrier to the International Space Station. The "Shooting Star" will carry about 10,000 pounds of payloads to the ISS.

It’s designed to discard unwanted material offloaded from the ISS and burn up in the earth’s atmosphere.

According to former NASA astronaut and Sierra Nevada Corporation Senior Vice President of Strategy Steve Lindsey, the spacecraft will have nontoxic propellant, which means there will be no hazardous chemicals on board.

Six cargo modules will be built, because the Shooting Star module is disposed of on every commercial resupply mission. Their first mission is in 2021.

“(It’s) nearly twice the payload and cargo that any of our competitors do, so one of our missions is a lot, and depending on the number of crew. So probably two missions a year would cover everything they need,” Lindsey said.

The spacecraft is reusable for about 15 missions, and ground operations crew will start loading the cargo with payloads about 30 days before each launch. A unique feature of the Dream Chaser spacecraft is that it can land on any commercial plane runway.

“You can fly and land it anywhere in the world, so that opens up the rest of the world to commercial space opportunities that normally, like the shuttle you could not do,” he explained.

As Lindsey says the size of the fleet will be depending on the amount of customers and if need be, they can have a crew on board with some modifications. Hoping to compete with the other commercial companies.

The first Dream Chaser launch, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5, is planned for 2021 and will land at the KSC shuttle landing facility. ​