The Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser space shuttle in orbit
Source: Sierra Nevada Corporation
Another company is coming to the commercial space industry, but unlike many of the new start-ups that capture the imagination, it already supports billions of dollars in business.
And it may soon be courting investors.
The private company Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) creates Sierra Space, an independent commercial space company with a portfolio that includes, among others, a reusable space plane and a commercial space station – large emerging bets for which the new organizational structure is intended accelerate.
“Our space business is a unique example of our growth strategy. What started as a $ 40 million acquisition has increased its revenue 10 times to $ 400 million today and will reach $ 4 billion. dollars in 5-10 years “, writes the president of SNC and the president Eren Ozmen, in an internal e-mail of the company broadcast on Tuesday and watched by CNBC.
“To achieve this growth and an even greater impact faster, today we announce that our space business area will move to an independent and commercial space company … Sierra Space will remain part of the SNC family as a subsidiary and will continue a cooperation deep and synergy between customers, technologies and many common activities. “
Sierra Nevada Corporation, based in Sparks, Nevada, is 100% owned by the team of husband and wife, Fatih and Eren Ozmen, Turkish immigrants turned billionaires, who once built a CNS that fights in a defense contract and billions of dollars in national security. More than a decade ago, they saw an opportunity to start investing in space capabilities and technology, making personal bets – as did other deep-pocketed visions such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson – on that a new private sector space economy could one day cease.
“Vibrant orbit of the low Earth”
Ozmen’s vision covers space transportation, destinations and infrastructure, including low Earth orbit, as it opens up for commercialization.
“We are considering a vibrant low-orbit Earth economy with fleets of Dream Chaser spacecraft, a commercial space station, expandable LIFE habitats that can travel to the Moon and Mars, and critical infrastructure such as power generation, propulsion, and environmental systems.” , says internal e-mail.
Sierra Space will have the reusable Dream Chaser space plan that is currently under development – a “space taxi” that, partially designed after the space shuttle, will be able to land on any airport runway in the world capable of supporting a Boeing 737 aircraft.
Dream Chaser, which was designed to carry people and cargo, is currently contracted with NASA to conduct six cargo missions to the International Space Station by 2024. Its initial flight to NASA is expected by the end of next year.
SNC also recently unveiled its commercial space station, an integrated prototype, with free flight, for which tests will soon begin at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The station consists of inflatable LIFE habitats that the company has designed for long-term stays in space and is expected to compete for NASA funding in the recently unveiled commercial agency project LEO Destinations (CLD).
In total, SNC’s space portfolio currently totals $ 3 billion in active contracts.
Space investment boom
Sierra Space’s creation comes as commercial space efforts expand across the industry on a larger scale, as more rocket companies go into orbit, space tourism plans proliferate, and the Biden administration proposes a six percent budget increase for NASA in fiscal year 2022.
And investors woke up in the sector in a significant way. An increasing number of space start-ups have been striking offers to be made public through special-purpose procurement companies, and Cathie Wood’s new Ark Space Exploration & Innovation ETF is about to be one of the most successful fundraisers ever.
Although the company’s e-mail does not address it, the new structure could create more flexibility if it had raised capital. It is unclear whether and how the Ozmen will court the investment, but signaled openness in a CNBC interview with “Squawk on Street” in December last year.
“We are open-minded because we see that raising capital will allow us to expand significantly and accelerate our growth,” Eren told CNBC at the time.
“We have this vision … we may arrive sooner rather than later … if we use some of the capital markets. There is that emotion that we cannot ignore, whether they are SPAC, that is, valuations are levels of top, investments are record levels, “added Fatih, who is the CEO of SNC, during the same interview.
Tuesday’s internal e-mail says that the CNS workforce will learn more in the coming weeks and months about the steps being taken for the space business transition. It will probably take a few months for the new Sierra Space company to become truly independent.