WASHINGTON — Sierra Space announced an agreement with the Turkish Space Agency and an affiliated company June 29 that could lead to cooperation on human spaceflight and lunar missions.
Sierra Space said it signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Turkish Space Agency and ESEN Sistem Entegrasyon, a Turkish company affiliated with Sierra Nevada Corporation, spanning a broad range of potential partnerships among the organizations that could include use of Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spacecraft and inflatable modules it is developing for the Orbital Reef space station.
“This agreement with the Turkish Space Agency and ESEN is another significant step for Sierra Space as we build a technology and business platform in LEO and, in doing so, deliver affordable access to space, opening the commercial space economy to the world,” Tom Vice, chief executive of Sierra Space, said in a statement.
The agreement covers a wide range of potential projects over the next five years, with few specific details. Sierra Space cited in the statement potential work in space technologies and applications, use of the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) inflatable module, and sending payloads to low Earth orbit and the moon.
The agreement also includes engagement with Turkish businesses and universities on space-related projects. “There are tremendous benefits for our industries and future space projects by leveraging Sierra Space capabilities and technologies, and we look forward to further collaboration with Sierra Space to identify additional opportunities where we can be active participants in the future of commercial space’s infrastructure and economy,” said Serdar Hüseyin Yıldırım, president of the Turkish Space Agency, in the statement.
The agency, established in 2018, is working on several satellite projects as well as a proposed small launch vehicle. It is also responsible for planning of broader national space activities.
