The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is considering a plan - submitted by the Huntsville (Ala.) Madison County Airport Authority and Nevada-based Sierra Space - to land commercial space vehicles at the North Alabama airport. The airport, the largest in North Alabama and a hub for the aerospace industry, is about 15 miles west of downtown Huntsville. The spacecraft resembles a small space shuttle with upswept wings, WHNT-TV reported. The proposal would allow the spacecraft to land on an existing runway at the airport. A 2015 study by the Huntsville airport authority found the airport compatible for the so-called Dream Chaser, which Sierra Space describes as a spaceplane designed to take crew and cargo into low-Earth orbit. It would be launched from an Atlas V rocket, elsewhere. The airport and Sierra Space would need licenses before landings could occur. (Source: The AP 06/19/21) Incidentally, the Air Force recently selected the Huntsville area as the headquarters for its Space Command.
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