Posted on May 20, 2013, at 3:40 pm .
Artist’s conception of a Bigelow lunar habitat. (Credit: Bigelow Aerospace)
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) – NASA and Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas are holding a media availability at 1:30 p.m. EDT, Thursday, May 23, to discuss the agency’s Space Act Agreement with the company for its insight on collaborating with commercial industry on exploration beyond Earth orbit. Journalists can participate in-person or by teleconference.
Continue reading ‘NASA, Bigelow to Discuss Private Sector Space Exploration Effort’
Posted on May 3, 2013, at 10:39 am .
Video Caption: Robert Bigelow, founder and president of Bigelow Aerospace LLC, talks about his company’s inflatable module that will be tested on the International Space Station in 2015 and the outlook for space tourism. He speaks with Mark Crumpton on Bloomberg Television’s “Bottom Line”.
Posted on April 19, 2013, at 11:08 am .
Artist’s conception of a Bigelow lunar habitat. (Credit: Bigelow Aerospace)
Irene Klotz at Space News has the details of a new Space Act Agreement between NASA and Bigelow Aerospace to study missions beyond low Earth orbits and the exploration and settlement of the moon:
“The purpose of this agreement is to facilitate and explore, in a manner that meets both national and commercial goals and objectives, joint public-private arrangements that would continue to build the ability for humans to live and work in space through the expansion of exploration capabilities beyond low Earth orbit,” the agreement says.
Continue reading ‘Bigelow, NASA Explore Lunar Private-Public Partnerships’
Posted on April 11, 2013, at 3:02 pm .
Artist’s conception of a Bigelow lunar habitat. (Credit: Bigelow Aerospace)
I really don’t know what to make of this story about NASA cooperating with Bigelow Aerospace to put a habitat on the moon:
Business deals don’t get much bigger than this one. Have you ever read a contract that gives a governmental green light to a program to “place a base on the surface of the moon?” Ever see an agreement signed by the U.S. government that declares a specific goal “to extend and sustain human activities across the solar system?” Me, either.
Yet that is essence of an adventurous deal already reached between NASA and Las Vegas space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow. An official announcement is still a few days away and will likely happen during a news conference at NASA headquarters. In the meantime, I have a draft copy of what could be an historic contract, one that reads like a Kubrick screenplay or an Arthur C. Clarke story. It is flat-out otherworldly….
NASA has picked Bigelow Aerospace to be a linchpin of this new strategy. The agreement will formalize a series of strategic goals and timetables for the next Space Race. Bigelow’s company would become a clearinghouse of sorts. Its first assignment: to identify which other companies would be most valuable for NASA’s long-range goals, including permanent bases on other celestial bodies, the exploration of the most distant parts of our solar system, and commercial projects that could stimulate the U.S. economy. This is a marriage of American know-how, practical business goals and good, old-fashioned adventure.
The agreement seems rather unusual. Maybe it would be a study done by Bigelow under a Space Act Agreement. And it’s odd that the writer would have a draft copy of a legal agreement that has yet to be signed. It’s possible, but it strikes me as unlikely.
Posted on April 9, 2013, at 5:25 am .
NASA has selected Paragon Space Development Corporation of Tucson for two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I awards to develop technologies for inflatable space habitats and the regeneration of oxygen for crews on their way to the moon and Mars.
“Paragon Space Development Corp (Paragon) and Thin Red Line Aerospace proposes to explore the utilization of inflatable structures by designing a habitation module as an integrated, all-fabric inflatable structural architecture, rather than modifying rigid space structural designs with an inflatable envelope,” according to the proposal summary. “Paragon and TRLA have developed several concepts with the potential to eliminate the need for hard-material support structure within an inflated habitat.”
Continue reading ‘Paragon SDC to Develop Inflatable Space Habitat with NASA SBIR Award’
Posted on February 4, 2013, at 12:56 pm .
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
Hailing what it calls a “sea change” in space costs, Bigelow Aerospace has unveiled pricing information for governments, companies and individuals interested in using its planned private Alpha Space Station.
Transportation costs to the station begin at $26.25 million per seat for a 60-day visit. Leases for exclusive use and control over part of the space station begin at $25 million. Naming rights for the entire station will cost an additional $25 million per year.
Continue reading ‘Bigelow Offering Private Space Station at a Fraction of ISS Cost’
Posted on January 16, 2013, at 12:17 pm .
NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and President and founder of Bigelow Aerospace Robert T. Bigelow talk while standing next to the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) during a media briefing where is was announced that the BEAM expandable space habitat technology will be tested on the International Space Station, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 in Las Vegas. BEAM is scheduled to arrive at the space station in 2015 for a two-year technology demonstration. (Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)
LAS VEGAS (NASA PR) – NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver announced Wednesday a newly planned addition to the International Space Station that will use the orbiting laboratory to test expandable space habitat technology. NASA has awarded a $17.8 million contract to Bigelow Aerospace to provide a Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which is scheduled to arrive at the space station in 2015 for a two-year technology demonstration.
Continue reading ‘NASA To Test Bigelow Expandable Module On Space Station’
Posted on January 11, 2013, at 4:19 pm .
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has awarded a $17.8 million contract to Bigelow Aerospace to provide a new addition to the International Space Station. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module will demonstrate the benefits of this space habitat technology for future exploration and commercial space endeavors.
“The International Space Station is a unique laboratory that enables important discoveries that benefit humanity and vastly increase understanding of how humans can live and work in space for long periods,” NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said. “This partnership agreement for the use of expandable habitats represents a step forward in cutting-edge technology that can allow humans to thrive in space safely and affordably, and heralds important progress in U.S. commercial space innovation.”
Garver and Bigelow Aerospace Founder and President Robert Bigelow will discuss the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module program at a media availability at 1:30 p.m. EST (10:30 a.m. PST) Wednesday, Jan. 16, at Bigelow Aerospace facilities located at 1899 W. Brooks Ave. in North Las Vegas.
For more information about Bigelow Aerospace, visit: http://www.bigelowaerospace.com
Posted on January 7, 2013, at 7:12 pm .
Bigelow Aerospace BEAM module (brown) attached to the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA)
Bigelow Aerospace and NASA have signed an agreement that could see an inflatable module attached to the International Space Station, Space News reported today.
The details are behind a pay wall, but the deal is reported to be worth $17.8 million for preliminary work on the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM). This would be an inflatable addition that would prove out technologies for future space facilities, including Bigelow’s own commercial space stations.
Continue reading ‘Bigelow Aerospace Signs Space Station Module Deal With NASA’
Posted on January 4, 2013, at 5:10 am .
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
During recent public talks, Scaled Composites Founder Burt Rutan has bemoaned the lack of recent rocket development in the United States. After the initial burst of creativity in the 1950′s and 1960′s, decades went by with very few new rockets being developed. He has also pointed to Scaled Composites’ SpaceShipTwo, SpaceX’s Dragon and Stratolaunch Systems air-launch project (which he worked on for 20 years) as the only serious developments in the field at present.
My first thought was: Burt’s wrong. There’s a lot more going on than just that. Including developments just down the flight line in Mojave that he somehow fails to mention. And my second thought was: well, just how wrong is Burt, exactly?
A lot, it turns out.
Continue reading ‘America’s Rocket Renaissance’
Loading ...