Sierra Space, a leading commercial space-tech company that is Building a Platform in Space to Benefit Life on Earth®, announced that two additional partners will help accelerate the investigation into Spaceport Oita in Kunisaki, Oita, Japan, as a potential landing site in Asia for Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser®, reaffirming its plans to expand a global network of return locations for the revolutionary new commercial spaceplane.
MUFG Bank, Ltd., and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., anchor investors in Sierra Space’s Series B funding round, are joining forces with Sierra Space, Oita Prefecture, Kanematsu Corporation and Japan Airlines to conduct a comprehensive utilization and landing site study at Spaceport Oita. The consortium will work together to identify and develop new business opportunities for Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser in Japan and across the Asian continent.
“Our dual-use and fully reusable Dream Chaser spaceplane will transform space travel,” said Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice. “Dream Chaser’s unique ability to land on compatible commercial runway worldwide – transporting precious cargo efficiently in a low-g landing – opens myriad, new global economic opportunities.”
“Two major Sierra Space investors, MUFG Bank, Ltd., and Tokio Marine and Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., will help extend the robust commercial economy we’re building in Low Earth Orbit to businesses and academic institutions in Japan and across the Asia-Pacific region. We are honored to share this vision with them, along with our partners in Oita Prefecture, Kanematsu and Japan Airlines.”
Dream Chaser – the world’s first winged commercial spacecraft – recently arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and entered into operations ahead of its first International Space Station (ISS) servicing mission. The Dream Chaser fleet is growing rapidly, with a second spaceplane under construction, and the company is eyeing multiple global partnerships to establish the following runway landing sites in addition to Oita, Japan:
