Huntsville is ‘the only community’ good enough to land new space shuttle

HUNTSVILLE – The Rocket City is looking to be the landing site for a new model of spaceship in the near future.

Colorado-based space company Sierra Nevada is taking steps to make Huntsville the only city where their new mini-space shuttle Dream Chaser will come back to earth. Last week, government, business, and academic leaders came together to create a plan to ready the city for this new ship.

“There was a leap of faith on the Huntsville side that we would be a company that could get this vehicle built and start servicing the space station,” Sierra Nevada Vice President John Roth said Thursday. “Yes, we have been approached by other airports for ventures. We’re not moving forward at this time with any of those. Right now, Huntsville is the only community we’re moving forward with a (landing) license on.”

The Dream Chaser shuttle has only been in the testing stages, but NASA recently agreed to use the spaceship for six supply missions to the International Space Station. This agreement means the Dream Chaser can move to the next stages, which includes choosing a landing site. Huntsville has been a top contender ever since they partnered with Sierra Nevada during the Paris Air Show last year. The Colorado company then pledged to help prime the Huntsville market for the Dream Chaser.

Landing the mini-shuttle in Huntsville will not come without challenges. A preliminary study identified four areas that need to be cleared before the shuttle can touch down: required licenses for the craft and airport, environmental impact approval, Federal Aviation Administration approval of the landing path, and possible runway damage.

Executives at Sierra Nevada are thoroughly impressed with Huntsville. Sierra Nevada VP John Roth said the city had “more research” than he originally thought and a diverse aerospace industry.

The Dream Chaser shuttle won’t be able to make it to space without Alabama. It will launch on the back of an Atlas V rocket built by United Launch Alliance in Decatur. The ship still has a few more years before its first flight, which may not be until 2020, but Huntsville is taking another “giant leap” to make Alabama a leader in space exploration.