Former Sierra Space employees told CNBC that the layoffs included a significant number of contractors, with the cuts including hundreds of personnel in total. Sierra Space this week shipped the first Dream Chaser, named Tenacity, for pre-launch testing at NASA's Armstrong facility in Ohio. The first Dream Chaser launch was previously scheduled for late last year, but delays in the development of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket pushed back that timeline. Dream Chaser is planned to launch on ULA's second Vulcan mission, with the first Vulcan launch targeting December. Dream Chaser has won NASA contracts to fly seven cargo missions to and from the International Space Station.

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Persons: Eren, Sierra, Jeff Babione, Gupta Organizations: CNBC, Sierra Space, NASA's Armstrong, Sierra, Sierra Nevada Corp, Fatih, Sierra Space's, Space, NASA Space Shuttle, United, Vulcan, NASA, International Space Locations: The Colorado, Sierra, Ohio