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[i]The company had previously planned a first flight of Dream Chaser, the first of six under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA to transport cargo to and from the International Space Station, in late 2021. But at the briefing, company officials said that mission is now scheduled for some time in 2022. ''COVID has definitely played a role" in that delay, said Steve Lindsey, senior vice president for strategy at SNC Space Systems. One example he gave involved structural testing of the spacecraft's cargo module at a contractor's facility in San Diego. COVID-related restrictions prevented SNC engineers from being on site at that facility to oversee the tests. SNC developed a workaround by using a mission control center it developed for Dream Chaser in Colorado so those engineers could remotely oversee those tests. "That worked great. Unfortunately, it took probably three or four times as long as it should have," he said. A related problem, he said, involves suppliers who have had to suspend operations because of COVID-19 outbreaks at their facilities. There have also been technical challenges with Dream Chaser, although he did not go into details about specific issues. "All of those things have conspired to move the date a little bit," he said.[/i]
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