The Federal Aviation Administration has cleared Sierra Space to return its uncrewed Dream Chaser spaceplane from orbit and land on a runway at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California ahead of a targeted debut flight in the spring of 2027.
“The FAA issued Sierra Space a Part 450 vehicle operator license for its Dream Chaser reusable reentry vehicle to land at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in an official statement dated Nov. 9, 2026. The agency added that “The license was issued well in advance of Sierra Space’s targeted spring 2027 mission date and within the statutory 180-day timeframe.”
The five-year license authorizes Sierra Space to conduct up to four Dream Chaser reentries per year at the Santa Barbara County installation, according to Defence Blog. Clearing the Part 450 regulatory review removes the main federal licensing hurdle required for the winged spacecraft to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and touch down on a U.S. runway, setting up the first orbital runway landing by a commercial winged vehicle since the retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle fleet.
Following the agency’s announcement, Sierra Space thanked the FAA on X “for its collaboration and support of commercial space innovation,” Defense WarRoom reported.
How the First Dream Chaser Mission Will Fly
Dream Chaser is an uncrewed lifting-body cargo spaceplane built with folding wings so it can fit inside the nose fairing of a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket. For its debut mission, known as SSC Demo-1, the spacecraft will launch vertically from Cape Canaveral in Florida and return from low Earth orbit to glide to a horizontal runway landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Under a September 2025 contract modification between NASA and Sierra Space, the first spaceplane, named Tenacity, will fly as an independent free-flyer demonstration in low Earth orbit rather than docking with the International Space Station. Defence Blog and Wisevoter reported that the debut mission will carry undisclosed national security, commercial and NASA payloads.
Tenacity is currently Sierra Space’s only flight-ready airframe. According to Defense WarRoom, the company placed production of its second spacecraft, named Reverence, on hold in late 2025 so engineers could concentrate on preparing Tenacity for its initial launch.
From ISS Cargo Contract to Free-Flyer Debut
As background, NASA selected Sierra Space (then operating as part of Sierra Nevada Corporation) in 2016 under its Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract alongside SpaceX and Northrop Grumman to ferry cargo to and from the International Space Station. During earlier FAA environmental reviews that began in 2021 and were updated in 2024, Sierra Space initially proposed landing Dream Chaser at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida before adding Vandenberg Space Force Base in 2024 as a contingency landing site.
When NASA and Sierra Space modified their Commercial Resupply Services 2 agreement in September 2025 to make Tenacity’s first mission a free-flying orbital demonstration, the company initially targeted a launch window in late 2026. While secondary outlets such as Wisevoter and Defense WarRoom noted that earlier late-2026 target window, both the FAA’s Nov. 9 statement and SpaceNews confirmed that Sierra Space is now planning the first flight for the spring of 2027. Neither Sierra Space nor United Launch Alliance has announced an exact launch date for the spring 2027 mission.