Peut-être pas si surprenant que çà en fait.
Dès 2016 la NASA avait fait une sélection de 6 compagnies pour faire des études concernant un "Deep Space Habitat".
Sierra Nevada en faisait partie :
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-six-companies-to-develop-prototypes-concepts-for-deep-space-habitats a écrit:NASA has selected six U.S. companies to help advance the Journey to Mars by developing ground prototypes and concepts for deep space habitats.
Through the public-private partnerships enabled by the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2) Broad Agency Announcement, Appendix A, NASA and industry partners will expand commercial development of space in low-Earth orbit while also improving deep space exploration capabilities to support more extensive human spaceflight missions.
The selected companies are:
Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas
Boeing of Pasadena, Texas
Lockheed Martin of Denver
Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems of Louisville, Colorado
NanoRacks of Webster, Texas
Depuis les orientations sont revues, notamment les dernières en date : Artemis 3 (Boots on the moon 2024) et le Lop-Gateway en version minimale pour permettre cette mission
Cette version de Nexstep-2 était un contrat différent de celui concernant leur Dream Chaser version cargo.
La NASA fournissait une subvention spécifique pour étudier des modules d'habitat pour le DSH.
The six partners will have up to approximately 24 months to develop ground prototypes and/or conduct concept studies for deep space habitats. The contract award amounts are dependent on contract negotiations, and NASA has estimated the combined total of all the awards, covering work in 2016 and 2017, will be approximately $65 million, with additional efforts and funding continuing into 2018. Selected partners are required to contribute at least 30 percent of the cost of the overall proposed effort.
Depuis la décision récente de lancer le programme lunaire Artemis .... la NASA a annoncé le 17 mai la sélection de 11 compagnies pour participer aux développements et réalisations en vue de ses projets lunaires.
Et Sierra Nevada en fait partie :
https://spacenews.com/nasa-selects-11-companies-for-lunar-lander-studies/ a écrit:The awards are part of NASA’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) series of broad agency announcements that support public-private partnerships to develop technologies needed for NASA’s exploration plans. Companies receiving these awards are required to make their own contributions in addition to NASA’s combined funding of $45.5 million.
The 11 companies selected represent a broad cross-section of the commercial space industry, from established aerospace companies to emerging startups:
Aerojet Rocketdyne
Blue Origin
Boeing
Dynetics
Lockheed Martin
Masten Space Systems
Maxar Technologies (formerly SSL)
Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems
OrbitBeyond
Sierra Nevada Corporation
SpaceX
Donc le prototype que Sierra Navada a présenté doit avoir convaincu la NASA que c'est techniquement crédible.
La suite .. si cela sera construit et pour quelle utilisation, on n'en sait rien
