Turkish-run firm gets $212.5 mln from NASA

Tolga Tanış ISTANBUL / Hürriyet

This image shows the ‘Dream Chaser,’ currently under development by Sierra Nevada.

NASA has granted $212.5 million to the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), owned by Turkish couple, Eren and Fatih Özmen, to support the firm’s space-taxi project “Dream Chaser.”

Sierra Nevada is one of three companies NASA has chosen to support with a total fund of $1.1 billion. The other two companies are airplane manufacturer Boeing and SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.). NASA allocated $440 million for SpaceX and $460 million for Boeing.

SNC has signed a deal with NASA to develop a reliable and safe spaceship to transport astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station, Eren Özmen told daily Hürriyet.

“SNC Space System Group signed the deal with NASA to continue the testing process of the Dream Chaser Space Systems,” she said, adding that the company has become one of the three companies to develop a capability to carry commercial personnel to and from low earth orbit.

SNC has received $100 million in support from NASA. The company aims to develop NASA’s next-generation space shuttle for manned spaceflights.

The Dream Chaser, a vertical-takeoff spaceplane, is planned to carry up to seven people. NASA plans to initiate space missions in five years with one of the projects it supports.