LOUISVILLE — Louisville’s Sierra Space Corp. has inked a memorandum of cooperation with the Turkish Space Agency and ESEN Sistem Entegrasyon, a private Turkish technology company, aimed at helping SSC commercially develop its low-Earth orbit (LEO), lunar and astronaut programs.

Sierra Space has two main aerospace projects: the Dream Chaser space plane, which is expected to be used to resupply the International Space Station starting next year; and the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) Habitat, a modular, three-story commercial habitation, business and science platform.

Specifically, the agreement establishes a framework for cooperation on:

• Space technologies and applications in areas such as remote sensing, propulsion systems, crewed space system and space communications.
• Space environment utilization on-orbit in LEO, including use of Sierra Space’s LIFE space habitat module.
• Sending payloads to LEO and to the moon.
• Engagement with and incubation of Turkish industry and academia in space-related business ventures, R&D, technology innovation and science campaigns.

“The Turkish Space Agency is proud to partner with Sierra Space and ESEN to participate

in the development and execution of Sierra Space’s various projects and space

technologies including the Dream Chaser spaceplane, LIFE Habitat and a range of space

applications,” TSA president Serdar Hüseyin Yıldırım said in a prepared statement. “There are tremendous benefits for our industries and future space projects by leveraging

Sierra Space capabilities and technologies, and we look forward to further collaboration

with Sierra Space to identify additional opportunities where we can be active participants

in the future of commercial space’s infrastructure and economy.”