The “space-as-a-service” business model has arrived in northern Nevada. This week, Sierra Nevada Corporation, an aerospace and defense contractor, launched a commercial space company to deliver space transportation, destinations and infrastructure.
In a release announcing Sierra Space, SNC said the company will leverage technologies, including Dream Chaser space planes and LIFE habitats in the venture. There is also a plan to offer the first free-flying commercial space station.
“The new commercial space station integrates the large size and versatility of LIFE habitats with the high cargo capacity, and non-toxic runway returns to Earth, of the Dream Chaser spaceplane,” SNC said in a press statement. “Under NASA contract, Dream Chaser will perform the first of at least seven cargo missions to the International Space Station starting next year.”
Fatih Ozmen, CEO and owner of SNC, said the new venture was created to build upon her company’s operating history and business connections and take advantage of the fast-growing commercial space economy.
Investment bank Morgan Stanley, via its Space Team, said the space economy currently sits at $350 billion globally and could expand to more than $1 trillion by 2040. SNC is betting the industry will surpass those estimates, potentially hitting $1.4 trillion a full decade earlier.
Sierra Space will launch with more than $3 billion in active contracts, and SNC anticipates revenues of more than $4 billion within the next eight years. It’ll also benefit from proximity to SNC’s broad customer base.
Source: SNC
