Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is working on a smaller Dream Chaser space plane that would be launched from a Stratolaunch plane; rather than a United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket.

The Dream Chaser, which is a stripped-down version of the spaceship that's been developed in Louisville, would reportedly be able to take a crew of three astronauts to low-earth orbit destinations. It would also b able to fly on unmanned automated missions.

Stratolaunch was first announced at near the end of 2011. It was announced as a partnership between inventor and investor Paul G. Allen and Scaled Composites' founder Burt Rutan. They envisioned a space rocket that would be launched from a massive carrier aircraft.

The aircraft would have a wingspan of 385 feet, which would make it the largest ever airplane by wingspan. It would be powered by six 46,000-66,500 lbf thrust-range fighter plane engines.

Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president of SNC Space Systems, said, "This relationship would expand our portfolio to include the highly flexible Stratolaunch system for launching reusable crewed or uncrewed spacecraft, or for rapid satellite constellation deployment."

Chuck Beames, executive director for Stratolaunch Systems, said that the Stratolaunch-Dream Chaser combination would allow astronauts to reach a variety of LEO destinations and return to a runway on Earth within 24 hours.

The new system is expected to make launches more flexible as well as more affordable than traditional rocket launches.

SNC aims to make first Stratolaunch flights by the year of 2018.