The Sierra Nevada Corporation on Thursday announced it has chosen Midland’s International Air & Spaceport to operate cargo transport.
The spacecraft, which is called the Dream Chaser, can land on any commercial runway, but Midland was the company’s first choice.
“We look forward to continuing the partnership and moving forward and hopefully landing Dream Chaser here one day,” said SNC’S Vice President John Roth.
Roth said the spacecraft could benefit the International Space Station with cargo.
“Whether it is water, or it’s oxygen for the vehicle, its other kind of supplies, just food, anything that the astronauts need to live on the space station,” said Roth. “They will also be taking experiments that will be performed in the space station.”
President of the Midland Spaceport Development Corporation J. Ross Lacy said this landing site designation is one more accomplishment for Midland.
“We are the first spaceport to have this designation for the Dream Chaser,” said Lacy. “As you can see a growing trend here, Midland is always the first at doing things, and so we are going to continue along doing that as we grow and mature as a spaceport.”
Mayor Jerry Morales said “This industry that we have brought in is a huge homerun that will not only impact Midland, but the Permian Basin.”
Lacy said the project will take about five years with a small chance of being shut down without clearance from the FAA.
“Right now it’s just a growing process and it’s an expensive process whenever you go through this type of licensing,” said Lacy. “It took us over two years to get our spaceport designation from the FAA. It moves slowly because you got to make sure that the public safety is your number one priority.”
For more information on the Dream Chaser and a space systems overview of the Sierra Nevada Corporation, you can visit their website here.
(Information from yourbasin.com)
