NASA shortlists Turks for space flight project

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

NASA is working on a project to send commercial passengers to the outer space. AP photo

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), owned by Turkish couple Fatih and Eren Özmen, was among four companies chosen for a commercial space flight project by NASA.

SNC will be competing against Boeing, Blue Origin, and SpaceX to produce a space shuttle. Last year, the company received $100 million for the project, and according to news portal, www.turkavenue.com, the couple behind SNC have named their shuttle “Dream Chaser.”

The first voyagers of SNC’s shuttle will be NASA astronaut Jin Voss, who has completed three trips to space already. The proposed shuttle will have the capacity to carry seven travelers, be they astronauts, tourists, soldiers or researchers.

In 1994 SNC employed only 20 employees, but has since expanded and now employs 2,100. The company, which is active in 15 different states within the United States, is dominant in seven different sectors and active in the production of electronic, space, aeronautical, micro satellite, airplane, communications systems and solar energy fields. The SNC shuttle is being built in Boulder Colorado.
In 2010, INC Magazine chose SNC as one of the ten fastest growing companies in the U.S. and SNC plans to acquire companies abroad in the fields of nanotechnology, renewable energy, telemedicine, and space and cyber operation sectors.

SNC was the first female run company to sell 20 fighter planes to the U.S. air force.