Sierra Space, a prominent private aerospace company valued at over $5 billion, laid off approximately 165 employees this week, along with a significant number of contractors, totaling several hundred personnel. This reduction affected about 8% of its workforce, which stood at around 2,000 employees prior to the cuts. The layoffs follow a recent surge in hiring to complete the Dream Chaser Tenacity spaceplane, which has now been shipped for pre-launch testing. The company is realigning its focus toward the operational phase of Dream Chaser's first mission and expanding its classified national security work, including adding nearly 150 cleared employees from Sierra Nevada Corp. The affected employees received severance packages including paid notice and benefits through the year-end.
