Sierra Nevada invited to join National Space Council Users Advisory Group

Thursday February 22, 2018 0 comments Tags: Louisville, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Fatih Ozmen, Eren Ozmen, NASA, Dream Chaser

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. -- At the second gathering of the National Space Council at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) CEO Fatih Ozmen is among leaders of the nation’s top aerospace and defense companies invited to join the Council’s Users’ Advisory Group.

SNC is best known publicly for the company’s Dream Chaser® spacecraft -- nicknamed “America’s spaceplane” -- is under contract with NASA to service the International Space Station (ISS) starting in 2020.

Under development at SNC’s Space Systems headquarters in Louisville, Dream Chaser is a reusable space utility vehicle capable of transportation and other missions in low-Earth orbit, and the only commercial, lifting-body vehicle capable of a runway landing.

Dream Chaser successfully completed a free flight test in November at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center (see video here).

Ozmen provided testimony to the Council in October along with representatives of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin on a panel highlighting the most innovative U.S. companies in space.

Ozmen told the Council that the U.S. has economic and national security interests in promoting U.S. leadership in this largely uncharted frontier.

Also attending the second National Space Council meeting is Eren Ozmen, SNC president and Ozmen’s wife. The Ozmens are sole owners of SNC, the largest privately-held, woman-owned aerospace and defense company in the U.S.

In addition to SNC's core national security business, the Nevada-based company has 25 years of experience and innovation in space, from satellites to rocket engines and more.

SNC products have supported 450 missions to space, including 13 missions to Mars.

Other SNC space initiatives include a NASA contract to build a concept prototype for the Deep Space Gateway program that supports eventual human space flight missions in the area of space near the moon that is expected to be the proving ground for Mars.