Jeff Findley wrote on Tue, 8 Jan 2019
07:00:20 -0500:


It's a heavy vehicle though and comes with a fairly large expendable
"service module" type of thing. They, of course, try to spin this into
a "feature" on their website:

Disposable cargo module that attaches to the Dream Chaser vehicle,
greatly increasing the amount pressurized and unpressurized cargo
that can be carried

But for a crewed vehicle, to me, this just means the reusable section is
going to be fairly cramped compared to a capsule which has a better
volume to surface area ratio.


Looking at their website it looks to me like for Space System (the
manned version) the whole vehicle is reusable and only the Cargo
System has the extra pod. The Space System vehicle has fixed wings
(they fold on the Cargo System) and looks larger than the Cargo System
(seating 7).


We'll see. I welcome the competition though.


I like the idea of recovery to almost anywhere with a reasonable
runway plus the 'kinder, gentler' reentry. The design seems odd to me
for a pure cargo vehicle, but I've always favored the "small reusable
spaceplane for people plus big dumb heavy lifter for cargo" paradigm.


--
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable
man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore,
all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
--George Bernard Shaw