VIENNA – (UN Information Service) – The United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) have announced details of the first ever dedicated United Nations space mission at the International Astronautical Congress today in Guadalajara, Mexico. The dedicated Dream Chaser® Mission is targeted at providing developing countries the opportunity to develop and fly microgravity payloads for an extended duration in orbit; however, all United Nations Member States will be able to propose payloads for the mission.
“One of UNOOSA’s core responsibilities is to promote international cooperation in the peaceful use of outer space,” said Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of UNOOSA. “I am proud to say that one of the ways UNOOSA will achieve this, in cooperation with our partner Sierra Nevada Corporation, is by dedicating an entire microgravity mission to United Nations Member States, many of which do not have the infrastructure or financial backing to have a standalone space programme.”
This announcement builds on the Memorandum of Understanding signed in June 2016 between UNOOSA and SNC to collaborate on this historic United Nations space mission. The first ever United Nations space mission is intended to launch in 2021 and will allow United Nations Member States to participate in a 14-day flight to low-Earth orbit (LEO) on SNC’s Dream Chaser spacecraft.
According to Ms. Di Pippo, funding of the mission will come from multiple sources. “We will continue to work closely with SNC to define the parameters of this mission which, in turn, will provide United Nations Member States with the ability to access space in a cost-effective and collaborative manner within a few short years. The possibilities are endless,” said Ms. Di Pippo.
Countries selected to provide mission payloads will be asked to pay a pro-rated portion of the mission cost, based on the resources required to host the payload and their ability to pay. In addition, major sponsors are being sought to finance a large portion of the mission costs.
“At SNC our goal is to pay it forward,” said SNC’s owner and President, Eren Ozmen. “That means leveraging the creation and success of our Dream Chaser spacecraft to benefit future generations of innovators like us all around the world.”
Over the next year, mission partners will conduct briefings to United Nations Member States and potential payload providers about the goals and framework of the mission and to solicit proposals for payloads. To make the programme more accessible to nations without a highly developed space industry, UNOOSA will offer technical support to countries that lack expertise or experience in developing microgravity payloads. Payloads will be selected in early 2018 to allow time for development and integration into the Dream Chaser spacecraft for launch expected by 2021.
SNC’s Dream Chaser is the only reusable, lifting-body, multi-mission-spacecraft capable of landing at commercial airports or spaceports able to accommodate large commercial aircraft – anywhere in the world. This offers the opportunity to land the United Nations mission in any licensed Member State supplying a payload on the mission. SNC is currently working with airports and spaceports to be granted a Federal Aviation Administration reentry license for commercial Dream Chaser missions. Recently selected to provide cargo delivery, return and disposal services for the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA’s Commercial Re-supply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract, Dream Chaser is a safe, affordable, flexible and reliable system capable of crewed and uncrewed transportation services to LEO destinations such as the ISS.
