Sierra Space Taps Global Authority on Expandable Space Station Technology for Key Leadership Role
May 22, 2024 | BUSINESS WIREEstimated reading time: 3 minutes

Sierra Space, a leading commercial space-tech company and next generation defense-tech prime building a platform in space to benefit life on Earth, announced today the promotion of Shawn Buckley to Vice President of the company's in-space destinations development.
In his new role, Buckley will oversee all products in Sierra Space's space station technology portfolio and in-space infrastructure, most notably the company’s development of the enabling technology for the world's first commercial space station. During this critical phase of technology development, focusing on the market application of space habitation, Buckley's team has overseen six stress tests of its expandable space station tech; a seventh test - the second on a full-scale test article -- is scheduled for next month.
“Shawn is our industry's definitive voice on space station technology, making him the ideal candidate to lead our team's in-space habitation work during this critical phase of development,” said Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space. “As the Dream Chaser transitions into mission operations and our space station testing campaigns ramp up to meet our company goals and the industry needs, I can think of no one better to lead this highly talented team.”
Buckley will lead Sierra Space’s effort to produce a robust space habitation product line, which currently includes active development of the LIFE® (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) habitat, a large, three-story structure that launches compressed on a conventional rocket and inflates on orbit, delivering unit economics for in-space operations and can comfortably host four to six astronauts as they conduct research and science experiments in the unique environment of microgravity. This new, expandable space station technology can replicate the entire capacity of the International Space Station in just three launches.
“The past two years have been nothing short of amazing and we have accomplished what others thought was the impossible,” said Buckley. “Sierra Space is an industry-leading company that can impact the complete space ecosystem from transportation to on-orbit destinations and the supporting applications and hardware components. I am looking forward to continuing to work with these amazing teams at Sierra Space to drive the future of space commercialization in the Orbital Age.”
Buckley is the global authority on expandable habitats – structures that are built with chemically woven fabrics (aka softgoods) – with unmatched technical expertise in the field of space habitation. Prior to this appointment, he held the role of Senior Director of Engineering and Chief Technologist of EarthSpace™ Systems at Sierra Space, leading Phase 1 development for the Orbital Reef program. Before joining Sierra Space, he held roles as the Chief Technologist and Habitation Manager at Lockheed Martin and Vice President of Softgoods and Deputy Program Manager for the B330 program at Bigelow Aerospace. He was a key architect in the success of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which has been attached to the International Space Station (ISS) since 2016. That program produced the only Softgoods expandable habitat that has ever been pressurized and attached to the ISS.
Sierra Space recently achieved a groundbreaking milestone with a successful full-scale structural test of LIFE habitat’s pressure shell at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, exceeding NASA’s safety and certification guidelines. Building upon this successful test, the company will deploy this expandable technology in collaboration with Blue Origin on Orbital Reef, and on Sierra Space’s free-flying Orbital Pathfinder. Alongside the Business Development team, Buckley will be responsible for attracting customers and additional investment, while continuing to build deep relationships with cutting-edge technology partners.
Testimonial
"We’re proud to call I-Connect007 a trusted partner. Their innovative approach and industry insight made our podcast collaboration a success by connecting us with the right audience and delivering real results."
Julia McCaffrey - NCAB GroupSuggested Items
Honeywell-Led Consortium Receives UK Government Funding to Revolutionize Aerospace Manufacturing
09/02/2025 | HoneywellA consortium led by Honeywell has received UK Government funding for a project that aims to revolutionize how critical aerospace technologies are manufactured in the UK through the use of AI and additive manufacturing.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
08/29/2025 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007This week, we bring you Global Electronics Association’s Chris Mitchell’s government relations column on—you guessed it—trade deals. TTM is balancing its facilities between East and West. The Global Electronics Association released July numbers for North American PCB shipments, and the news is good. Meanwhile, the corresponding report for EMS might seem like bad news, but that’s misleading. Be sure to look deeper for the rest of the story. Finally, for a bit space-science palate cleansing, I’m sharing news of the latest launch of NASA’s X-37B.
Boeing-built X-37B Spaceplane Launches, Beginning Eighth Mission
08/26/2025 | BoeingThe Boeing-built X 37B Orbital Test Vehicle launched its eighth mission, lifting off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The vehicle is healthy on orbit and proceeding with standard checkout.
TI Semiconductors Enable Advanced Earth-observation Capabilities of ISRO’s First-of-its-kind NISAR Mission
08/25/2025 | Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments (TI) semiconductors are enabling the radar imaging and scientific exploration payloads for the NASA-Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) synthetic aperture radar (NISAR) satellite, which was recently launched into orbit.
Rocket Lab Announces Expanded U.S. Investments for National Security Programs and Semiconductor Manufacturing
08/25/2025 | BUSINESS WIRERocket Lab Corporation, a global leader in launch services and space systems, announced it is boosting its U.S. investments to expand semiconductor manufacturing capacity and provide supply chain security for space-grade solar cells and electro-optical sensors for national security space missions.