Private stations could take paying astronauts (Bigelow Aerospace plans)

Houston Chronicle, Washington Post ^ | 13 April 07 | MARC KAUFMAN

[saganite]

Private space exploration took a potentially significant step forward this week as Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace announced plans to send a series of inflatable space stations into orbit over the next decade.

The spacecraft, initially designed by NASA for use with the International Space Station, would be available to train astronauts from nations not currently active in space, as well as companies that could manufacture unique products in weightlessness.

"We think the time will come when orbiting space complexes won't be considered a novelty, but a necessity," said company President Robert Bigelow, who made a fortune as founder of Budget Suites hotel chain.

"When the first satellites went up, they were a novelty too," he said. "Now they are a major business with enormous commercial importance. This is a logical next step."

The announcement comes at a heady time for private space entrepreneurs. The rocket company SpaceX, founded by Pay Pal billionaire Elon Musk, had its most successful test launch to date last month. Voters in New Mexico this month passed a referendum to raise taxes to help build a spaceport for Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space tourism company.

Bigelow already has a prototype of its planned station in orbit, and is scheduled to launch a second on a Russian rocket later this month. The prototype Genesis II will launch from Orenberg, Russia, and will carry a payload that includes a Madagascar giant hissing cockroach, scorpions, an ant farm, and an internal camera to watch their acclimation to space.

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[saganite]

ping

[GAB-1955]

I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords...

oops, wrong Web site!

[zeugma]

I really wish Bigelow well with his venture. We need this kind of capitalism in space, and it is way past time we had it.

What really sucks is that the only launch vehicles available to him are Russian.

NASA has really screwed the pooch on our domestic launch capabilities. With any luck, a private company may one day be able to take up the slack, if FedGov doesn't prevent it.
 

[saganite]

Bigelow has a contract with one of the new private rocket companies (can’t recall the name) and is also in discussions with Boeing to produce a man rated version of the Atlas 5. He plans on his modules being compatible with all docking schemes with a docking port on one end for the Russkies system and one on the other end for everyone else. He’s supposed to launch his second module at the end of this month (on a Russian rocket) and plans to move on to the next bigger module for the next launch.