90 minutes to delivery: Sierra Space sets stage for cargo transport from orbit
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Sierra Space is a leading commercial space-tech company and now its spacecraft, Sierra Space Ghost, enters the final testing stage.
The fastest way to get from New York to Boston is to train and fly which takes 2h 58m. How good it might be to have a technology that can transport us to any location in 90 minutes? Well, that is an option…for cargo delivery.
Sierra Space team’s goal is to enable on-demand cargo delivery from orbit to any location on Earth. How long that might last? Well, they could do it in an hour and a half an hour. A combination of cutting-edge technology and pushing the boundaries of space logistics might revolutionize the way of transporting supplies.
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According to the Sierra Space, this could help soldiers for example on the battlefield areas to get what they need. But that is just one of the examples as they’re striving to make a significant impact. They want to make an impact in cases of disaster response, and humanitarian aid efforts. The Ghost has the potential to revolutionize payload delivery by enabling them to land in areas lacking landing facilities. This capability of the Sierra Space Ghost makes it promising for use in many applications. Also, a steerable rudder on the parafoil can assist in guiding the Ghost’s payload to within 300 feet of its desired landing spot.
How it would work?
The system would include loading predetermined supplies, such as survival kits, an inflatable boat, rations, and weaponry, onto various “units.” These units would then be launched into orbit. The Ghost platform could remain in orbit for up to five years before any pre-loaded supplies are required. When materials need to be delivered a de-orbit motor would slow down the satellite sufficiently for Earth’s gravity. Why? Because that is how it will initiate its descent towards the planet’s surface. On the way, the system’s thermal shield would protect the payload from the intense heat of reentry. After safely entering Earth’s atmosphere, the thermal shell would be discarded. And the system’s soft-shell, umbrella-like parafoil would open.
Erik Daehler, Vice President of Orbital Missions & Services said for Space that the Ghost system can be scaled to different sizes. He said that it could be between 550 pounds and 1,750 pounds. “Each unit currently costs somewhere in the “tens of millions” of dollars to build. But Sierra Space is working to bring that cost down to “single-digit millions,” he said. They started designing this because their cargo modules were designed to burn up for their NASA missions to bring trash. “We’d like to eventually reuse them. So, we’re looking at that scalability; how do we bring back something much larger?”
Sierra Space has not yet announced the target date for having the system in operation. Nevertheless, the company is actively advancing with a testing program with a focus on determining what infrastructure, communications systems, and other architecture will be necessary.
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