LOUISVILLE, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company with 1,100 employees, more than 500 missions and over 30 years of space flight heritage, today outlined plans for an extensive recruitment drive that will see the company significantly increase its headcount by nearly doubling its labor force and creating 1,000 net new jobs this year.
The majority of the positions will be in Colorado, with new roles distributed across the Sierra Space facilities in Louisville, Colo. and South Metro Denver. Sierra Space will also be increasing its workforce across the company’s other locations, including in Madison, Wis., Brevard County, Fla. and Durham, N.C., as work accelerates towards launch of the Dream Chaser spaceplane.
At present, more than 700 new positions, including more than 400 in engineering, are listed on the company’s Careers webpage, with additional new job opportunities expected to be posted between now and mid-2022.
The new members of the Sierra Space team will support the company’s efforts to build the next generation of space transportation systems and in-space destinations for low-Earth orbit (LEO) commercialization.
“Sierra Space has an incredibly important mission to build in space the next platform for business. Space affords a unique environment where new technological breakthroughs will be born and directly enhance our life on Earth,” said Tom Vice, Sierra Space CEO. “Sierra Space is at the doorstep of unlocking this next generation of space, led by the launch of our Dream Chaser spaceplane. We are seeking the brightest minds who are inspired by our mission and pioneering spirit to join us at Sierra Space.”
Sierra Space concluded one of the largest ever private capital rounds late last year, with a $1.4 billion Series A investment of primary capital. The funding is accelerating the development of the company’s revolutionary Dream Chaser spaceplane, the world’s only orbital commercial spaceplane.
Sierra Space aims to build the future of space transportation, commercial space destinations and infrastructure, and applications that will help foster a vibrant, growing commercial space economy. As the LEO economy reaches a critical inflection point – driven by the convergence of the increasing commercialization of space, renewed public interest, and defense considerations – Sierra Space is developing foundational infrastructure to support this growing ecosystem. By opening up affordable access to space, Sierra Space hopes to enable existing businesses, entrepreneurs, researchers and governments to create exciting breakthroughs that can empower humanity to begin new civilizations in space and benefit life on Earth.
About Sierra Space
Sierra Space products and programs are working towards a more accessible space economy. The company is rapidly advancing toward the launch of the world’s only winged commercial spaceplane, the Dream Chaser®. As the next generation of space transportation, the Dream Chaser will perform cargo supply and return missions for NASA, set to begin in late 2022, delivering up to 12,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) at a time. The return journey will carry critical data, generated by ISS researcher experiments, enabling earth-bound scientists to benefit from much faster access to these unique results. Dream Chaser is a reusable spaceplane, uniquely capable of a smooth 1.5 low-g re-entry for crew and cargo transportation with the ability to land on existing commercial runways worldwide.
Sierra Space is the developer of the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFETM) Habitat, a modular, three-story commercial habitation and science platform. The unique structure will provide opportunities for multiple businesses including manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and other sectors, to optimize zero gravity benefits. The LIFE Habitat will be able to be deployed in low-Earth orbit, on the lunar surface, or lunar orbit, and as a transport vehicle to Mars. Both Dream Chaser and LIFE Habitat will launch using conventional rocket propulsion systems.
The Dream Chaser spaceplane and LIFE platform are central components of the joint partnership Orbital Reef commercial space station and mixed-use business park being developed in partnership with Blue Origin.