The US start-up Sierra Space wants to make deliveries to any place in the world possible within a maximum of 90 minutes. To achieve this, the Ghost landing capsule will be stationed in space.

In the event of a disaster, it is often crucial how quickly help can arrive on site. The start-up Sierra Space wants to make deliveries from space possible in such cases in the future.

The company has been working on the Ghost landing capsule since 2021. In an emergency, it should be able to deliver pre-loaded goods within 90 minutes.

Landing capsule Ghost to wait in space for deployment

According to the start-up, the landing capsule could, for example, be loaded with lifeboats. In the event of a shipping accident, it would then be able to drop these over the ocean. But the system could also be used for military missions.

Ghost should need a maximum of 90 minutes to do this. The landing capsule can also head for any location on Earth. The capsule reaches its destination with an accuracy of 100 yards, or around 92 meters. If it comes closer to the Earth's surface, a glider spreads out, slowing down its arrival on the Earth's surface.

First tests from the helicopter

Before the Ghost landing capsule actually goes into space, Sierra Space first completed tests with the help of a helicopter. During the tests, the developers were able to test the flight and fall characteristics of the capsule.

However, Sierra is planning significantly higher drop altitudes for regular operations. The landing capsules are to be dropped from Earth's orbit. However, they must withstand temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius.

The pre-loaded landing capsules will wait in orbit in various spacecraft for their deployment. Sierra Space is working on its own spacecraft for this purpose – in addition to the landing capsule itself.

“We envision having a fleet of Sierra Space Ghost vehicles strategically positioned and easily accessible and deployable to critical locations anywhere on Earth within 90 minutes,” explains CEO Tom Vice.

Sierra Space Ghost enables our customers to deliver critical resources to frontline personnel with unprecedented precision and speed.

However, this approach limits the flexibility in loading, as the capsules are first loaded on Earth and then sent into orbit to wait there for their use.

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Source: https://www.basicthinking.de/blog/2024/06/07/ghost-ladekapsel/

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