Bigelow AeroSpace's Bigelow Expandable Activity Module the future of NASA space habitats

“LEO will become a commercial domain”

Bigelow Aerospace Mike Gold commenting on their plans to test the BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module) at the ISS and eventually inflate their own Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station

Would you feel comfortable living in a Space Station made of inflatable parts instead of solid Metal segments like the ISS (International Space Station)?

Bigelow Aerospace seems to think so and has invested some $17.8 million in the development of their BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module) which will be tested at the ISS in 2015 as stated in the article “Private Inflatable Room Launching to Space Station Next Year”, published October 06, 2014 03:07pm ET, by Elizabeth Howell, Space.com.

Bigelow Aerospace has big plans for their BEAM inflatable Space Module, namely to literally inflate their own Space Station, the Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station, by the Second or Third Quarter of 2015.

This Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station will be located in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) about 100 to 300 miles (161 to 483 km) as noted in the article “Inflatable private room to dock to ISS, commercialise Space”, published October 6, 2014 8:57 PM PDT by Michelle Starr, CNET News.

So who is Bigelow Aerospace? And are their plans safe?

Bigelow Aerospace – Italian Mafia in Space setting up Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station Casino

Bigelow Aerospace is a little known company in the rapidly expanding arena of Satellite and Space Travel as shown in the infographic below in the article “'Space Wars': A visual guide to the battle for space supremacy”, published December 11, 2014 12:00 PM PST by Michael Franco, CNET News.

Since the Obama Administration had set about the task of privatizing the Space Industry as explained in my blog articles entitled “Alternative Energy and the Ion Drive Engine - Star Trek and Andromeda” and the article “Alternative Energy and Daedelus - Avatar and Planet Gliese 581g Next Door”.

That includes mining asteroids for their precious minerals, the main long-term goal of many of the companies involved in the Private Space Industry, with Government payload Jobs from NASA as a foot in the door as stated in the article “The companies vying to turn asteroids into filling stations”, published 25 September 2014 Last updated at 23:27 GMT By Debbie Siegelbaum, BBC News.

Many players like Bigelow Aerospace have come along to profit by providing various services on Contract:

1.      Lifting supplies for NASA Astronaut at the ISS

2.      Space Tourism

3.      Satellite Launches

However, don't pack your bags just yet; a trip to the Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station will cost you US$26.25 million, which includes being made fit and ready to go into Space as per their Bigelow Aerospace’s Travel Booking Listings.

Two months stay at the Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station costing you US$25 million as per their announcement back in 2012 in the article “SPACEX AND BIGELOW AEROSPACE JOIN FORCES TO OFFER CREWED MISSIONS TO PRIVATE SPACE STATIONS”, published MAY 10, 2012 , SpaceX

That's a total of US$51.25 million, or US$11.25 million cheaper than staying at the hotel ISS. To achieve this lofty ambition, Bigelow Aerospace currently has two satellites the Genesis I and the Genesis II testing out the LEO region for which restrictions have been relaxed by ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) as stated in the article “Obama signs law easing satellite export controls”, published January 3, 2013 BY STEPHEN CLARK, SPACEFLIGHT NOW.

Coincidentally too, this is the same patch of Space real-estate that Mountain View, California-based Google and Dutch-based O3b Networks Ltd have plans to launch a fleet of Satellites to provide Satellite Broadband Services as detailed in my blog articles entitled “Google and O3B Network Limited partner on Satellite Broadband Project – How to set up a Satellite Broadband Network”.

Undoubtedly, Space Tourists won’t just be going up to admire the view; probably Bigelow Aerospace might throw in luxury suites with Casino Gambling too, especially with a name that sounds like one of the more prominent Italian Mafia Families.

So how does Bigelow Aerospace plan to get their Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station up into LEO orbit by the Second or Third Quarter of 2015? Also, once in orbit, how do they plan to make money?

Bigelow Aerospace's BEAM - How an inflatable Space Module will build the Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station 

Bigelow Aerospace ambitious plans involve testing out the BEAM inflatable Module at the ISS as stated in the article “Space station to test $17 million inflatable room”, published 15 January 2013, 3:46 am AEDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News. To travel into Space, BEAM will be deflated and be flow to the Space Station using SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft.

There it will be attached to the ISS using the Canada Arm 2 and them pumped full of air to inflate it up to full size. Since the Module is in Space, it won't require much air for it to be inflated, albeit it’ll have to be pressurized to be equivalent to Earth's atmosphere in terms of pressure and concentration of gases. It'll them be tested by NASA Astronauts using their radiation equiptment to compare radiation levels to those inside of the ISS.

Apparently this testing will take place in the First Quarter of 2015 albeit it'll remain there for years as a way of advertising Bigelow Aerospace's concept for an inflatable Space habitat technology. This as BEAM can not only be used on the Space Station, but potentially for creating habitats on the Moon or even Mars that are portable and easier to carry, significantly lowering the size of Spacecraft and cost of setting up as basic on the Moon or even Mars.

The Bigelow Aerospace will probably make it even possible to mine Asteroids in the near future and even Deuterium  from the upper atmosphere of Jupiter and Saturn to fuel AMC (Anti Matter Converter) based Rockets for Interstellar Travel as described in my blog article entitled “University of Alabama, NASA, Boeing and Oak Ridge National Laboratory developing Nuclear Fusion Impulse Rocket - Ross Cortez's Dilithium Crystals leads Star Trek Into The Darkness”.

The Second and Third Quarters of 2015 may involve Bigelow Aerospace launching BEAM Modules into LEO and NASA having Astronauts do maneuvers to connect and inflate the various BEAM Modules to create their Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station. Once constructed, who will be the first occupants of the Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station?

After Astronauts, conceivably Space Tourists brought to and from the Space Station via a SpaceX Craft. So for US$51.25 million in the future you may be able to enjoy the best view of the Earth from the Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station or should I say Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Hotel!