Sierra Space Becomes Only Active Commercial Space Company to Meet Threshold After Successful Test with One-Third Scale Test Article

Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company at the forefront of creating and building the future of space transportation and infrastructure for low-Earth orbit (LEO) commercialization, announced today the recent completion of its first successful Ultimate Burst Pressure (UBP) test for the Large Inflatable Flexible Environment (LIFE^TM) habitat. The test was sponsored by Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2) Appendix A Habitat Systems project, which is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and was performed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA softgoods subject matter experts and ILC Dover collaborated on the test.

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Sierra Space’s LIFE Habitat before and after (left to right) successfully completing Ultimate Burst Pressure Test. Courtesy Sierra Space.

The test, which is the first of two sub-scale burst tests scheduled for 2022 in support of Sierra Space’s softgoods certification, used a one-third scale of Sierra Space’s LIFE^TM inflatable habitat – which burst at 192 psi – exceeding the safety requirement of 182.4 psi. As a result, this stress test is among the highest publicly released data points for a softgoods UBP test at any scale. Sierra Space will plan the next sub-scale test for later this year.

“The LIFE habitat is one of the most innovative products designed and developed by Sierra Space and is essential for enabling humans to safely and comfortably begin to develop new civilizations in space,” said SVP and GM, Space Destinations, Neeraj Gupta. “The product has many applications in low-Earth orbit and for deep-space and surface habitation on the moon and Mars. LIFE will revolutionize humans’ ability to commercialize and explore space and we could not be prouder to achieve this important milestone. Sierra Space is leading the development of advanced inflatable habitat systems and continues to be the leader in softgoods inflatable systems and architectures.”

Sub-scale tests are used to support the overall full system development and to determine the ability of a vehicle to withstand the maximum internal pressure required to cause failure of the vehicle’s pressure shell, commonly known as the restraint layer.

“Sierra Space and ILC Dover, along with our partners, have created an innovative approach to softgoods inflatable habitats,” added Shawn Buckley, LIFE Chief Engineer and Senior Director of Engineering at Sierra Space. “This latest UBP test is a testament to the commitment that Sierra Space has pledged to establish itself as the leader in this technology.”

The UBP test is first of several tests that will be performed over the next few years in order to complete NASA’s certification of the LIFE^TM habitat’s primary structure for human use in space. NASA’s NextSTEP program falls under the HQ Explorations Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) Technical Integration’s (TI) Pre-Formulation (PF) Habitation Team. For NextSTEP-2, Sierra Space is focused on performing critical risk reduction tests and assessing LIFE’s extensibility to multiple space destinations including the moon and Mars.

Among other missions in coming years, LIFE habitat will serve as both a habitation and a payload element for the Orbital Reef commercial space station, a collaboration between Sierra Space and Blue Origin.

To view the Ultimate Burst Pressure Test, visit: Sierra Space’s LIFE Habitat Completes Successful Ultimate Burst Pressure Test

About Sierra Space

Sierra Space (www.sierraspace.com) is a leading commercial space company at the forefront of innovation and the commercialization of space. Sierra Space is building platforms in space to benefit life on Earth. The company is in the latter stages of doubling its headcount, with large presences in Colorado, Florida and Wisconsin. Significant investors in Sierra Space include General Atlantic, Coatue, and Moore Strategic Ventures.

With more than 30 years and 500 missions of space flight heritage, Sierra Space is enabling the future of space transportation with Dream Chaser^®, the world’s only winged commercial spaceplane. Under construction at its Colorado headquarters and expected to launch in 2023 on the first of a series of NASA missions to the International Space Station, Dream Chaser^® can safely carry cargo - and eventually crew - to on-orbit destinations, returning to land on compatible commercial airport runways worldwide. Sierra Space is also building an array of in-space destinations for low Earth orbit (LEO) commercialization including the LIFE™ (Large Flexible Integrated Environment) habitat at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a three-story commercial habitation and science platform designed for LEO. Both Dream Chaser^® and LIFE™ are central components to Orbital Reef, a mixed-use business park in LEO being developed by principal partners Sierra Space and Blue Origin, which is expected to be operational by 2027.

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