AdobeStock image of Earth from space. Photo via Sierra Space

The commercial space company Sierra Space launched a new business Oct. 12 that will invest in and partner with innovators and disruptors in the emerging new space market. Sierra Space Ventures will be led by Matthew Mejia, the company’s chief strategy and development officer.

Sierra Space has developed the Dream Chaser space plane and is making a space habitat and a multi-purpose space station called Orbital Reef in partnership with Blue Origin and others.

The new space market is exemplified by an increasing number of relatively new, small companies that have developed or are developing launch vehicles and Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites and related technologies that are fueling inexpensive access to space that is being used for commercial, government, and national security purposes worldwide.

Sierra Space, which is based in Colorado, said the ventures group will invest in “companies working to enable the next breakthroughs in human health, computing systems, telecommunications and clear energy that can be further accelerated through access to Sierra Space’s research facilities in Low-Earth Orbit.”

“Sierra Space has a critical role in advancing humanity’s presence in space, and we hope to enable broader access to the vast potential space has to offer,” Mejia said in a statement. “Through Sierra Space Ventures, we can offer prospective innovators access to our space transportation and destination infrastructure to launch their own research in LEO and help position them for success as they mature their capabilities and continue their capital strategies.”

This article was first published by Defense Daily.