Sierra Space, a commercial space company, and IBM, a technology leader in the space industry, announced the signing of a new memorandum of understanding in late October. The two companies plan to collaborate on the development of the next generation of space technologies and software platforms for Sierra Space’s entire portfolio of space vehicles and infrastructure.

A subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation, Sierra Space is leading the way into the future of space transportation with Dream Chaser, the world’s first commercial winged space plane. Built at its Colorado headquarters, it is scheduled to launch in 2023 on the first of a series of NASA missions to the ISS, the International Space Station, to carry cargo and return to land like a regular aircraft on commercial airport runways.

The company’s other plans include establishing a human space flight center and astronaut training academy at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It is also building a range of destinations in space for commercialization in low Earth orbit (LEO), including the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) habitat at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a three-story commercial and scientific platform designed for LEO. Dream Chaser and LIFE are central components of Orbital Reef, a low-Earth orbit mixed-use business park developed by lead partners Sierra Space and Blue Origin, which is expected to be operational by 2027.

The Memorandum of Understanding

Under the terms of the agreement, Sierra Space will integrate analytics and data analysis technology from IBM, a leading global provider of hybrid cloud and AI services, to coordinate the tasks and workload of its astronauts. In addition, IBM will support Sierra Space in its journey to build “a seamless, comprehensive and unique in-space technology platform to effectively serve the cloud in space and drive mission operations, while supporting the development of new applications for commerce, research, tourism and more.”

Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space, explains:

“Sierra Space is leading the design, development and operations for the future of commercial space and infrastructure. Through this planned agreement with IBM, we will leverage the full depth of its industry expertise and innovative technology portfolio to assess and support the unique challenges in space that we will face as we build the future of commercial space. Efficient hybrid space platforms will enable us to extract untapped value from the growing amounts of data generated in space. Together, we will leverage secure AI to develop new capabilities for Sierra Space, IBM, the broader orbital ecosystem and the new space economy.”

IBM’s technology platform will enable Sierra Space to automate business operations to achieve better performance, IT operations to provide actionable insights, application and data flows to improve customer experience, networks to provide touchless operations and thus generate deeper insights into threats and orchestration actions.

This collaboration will build a single IT environment for flexible, secure and open operations.

Naeem Altaf concludes:

“IBM is committed to reinvigorating approaches to science and innovation to address today’s biggest challenges. Collaborating with a leader like Sierra Space will support the growth of a more robust space economy in low Earth orbit and beyond. There is unlimited potential for humanity’s future in space. We see Sierra Space as a leader and a critical collaborator in advancing this vision. In this envisioned – but secure – environment, collaborators and partners will be able to innovate, co-create, and cooperate together on a large scale in a way that mutually benefits the space industry as a whole. As we move forward, IBM looks forward to working with Sierra Space on a series of initiatives to accelerate new and innovative opportunities for LEO and the new space economy.”

Translated from Sierra Space s’associe à IBM pour développer la prochaine génération de technologies spatiales