Bigelow Aerospace sets sights on free-flying station after passing on ISS commercial module (2024)

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Bigelow Aerospace sets sights on free-flying station after passing on ISS commercial module (1)byJeff Foust

Bigelow Aerospace sets sights on free-flying station after passing on ISS commercial module (2)

WASHINGTON — The founder of Bigelow Aerospace says his company decided not to pursue a NASA competition for a commercial International Space Station module because of funding concerns, but remains interested in a separate effort for supporting a free-flying facility in low Earth orbit.

In a Jan. 28 interview, Robert Bigelow said his company decided not to bid on a NASA competition for access to an ISS docking port for a commercial module because the funding NASA offered for doing so was too low. NASA announced Jan. 27 it selected Axiom Space to use the port through its Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program.

When NASA issued the request for proposal in June for the docking port, NASA said it projected making $561 million available for both the docking port solicitation and a separate one to support development of a free-flying commercial facility. “That was asking just too much” of the company, Bigelow said. “So we told NASA we had to bow out.”

Bigelow said that NASA later indicated to him the agency might have erred with that funding estimate. “They shouldn’t have made the statements that they did regarding that particular number, let’s put it that way,” he said.

In questions and answers released by NASA for the draft NextSTEP request for proposals for a free flyer, NASA has said the $561 million figure is not a “hard constraint” on the program’s budget. “Offerors should propose what they feel is required to close their business case,” the agency said.

NASA has yet to release a final version of that request for proposals for free flyers, even though the agency said it would do so by December. Bigelow says his company remains interested in that program, depending on funding. In the meantime, it is continuing work on a habitation module concept for NASA’s lunar Gateway through a separate NextSTEP effort.

Bigelow said either a commercial ISS module or a free flyer would need significant NASA support to be viable since the commercial market isn’t big enough yet to support such facilities.

“Commercialization isn’t robust at all,” he said, noting the challenges the ISS has had attracting commercial users. “No single industry is mature enough. There’s not enough there to maintain a large structure and have frequent traffic.”

“The mantra is that NASA will be a customer, but not the only customer, and at some point that will work well,” he said. “It’s just that the pump-priming needs to happen at the inception of that, and there has to be substantial government subsidies for a period of time until industries can stand on their own feet.”

Bigelow added another issue was the perception that NASA’s resources were being increasingly diverted to lunar exploration efforts, like a lunar lander. While supportive in general of a human return to the moon, he said he was worried the program might not be sustainable.

“If the lunar lander is all that there is come 2024 — if it can be executed by that time, and I have my doubts — my concern is that it’s a repeat of what was done a half-century ago,” he said, with just “flags and footprints” missions that don’t establish a long-term presence there.

“I don’t see a base that you can keep occupied, and rotate people in and out of,” he said. “That’s a concern that I have about the lunar program as a whole.” Language in a House authorization bill for NASA, introduced Jan. 24, would deemphasize any work on a permanent outpost in order to keep the agency focused on sending humans to Mars. Bigelow said he was aware of the bill but had not yet had time to review it in detail.

Bigelow has, in the past, talked about the importance of establishing a lunar base, and the company has created models of such a base that make use of versions of its expandable habitat technology. He said he would not rule out working with other companies on a commercial lunar base of some kind.

“If Elon [Musk] or Jeff [Bezos] actually want to pursue lunar bases, I would love to join a partnership in putting something together as a team and try to make something like that happen,” he said, citing the company’s expertise in habitation modules. “I think we could provide a lunar base successfully.”

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Jeff Foust

Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews.He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science...More by Jeff Foust

Bigelow Aerospace sets sights on free-flying station after passing on ISS commercial module (2024)

FAQs

What happened to Bigelow space station? ›

In March 2020, the company laid off all 88 of its employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of January 2024 the company remains dormant and is currently considered defunct.

Does Bigelow Aerospace still exist? ›

In March 2020, Bigelow Aerospace laid off all 88 members of staff and halted operations after over 20 years of business, in a move that was partially caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

What is Robert Bigelow's net worth? ›

Born May 12, 1945

In 2011, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $700 million.

What is the first module of the ISS which provides power from solar arrays and propulsion? ›

In 1998, the Zarya Module was the first space station module and also carried the first solar panels and radiators. Then, in 2000, the Zvezda Module carried up the next set of solar panels.

Does anyone live in space station? ›

The space station has been continuously occupied since November 2000. An international crew of seven people live and work while traveling at a speed of five miles per second, orbiting Earth about every 90 minutes. Sometimes more are aboard the station during a crew handover.

Is NASA getting rid of the space station? ›

Humans have occupied a place in space ever since. NASA is now preparing for what's next for human presence in space with plans to de-orbit the International Space Station in 2031.

Who is the largest aerospace manufacturer? ›

Largest aerospace companies by market cap
#NameM. Cap
1General Electric 1GE$175.68 B
2Honeywell 2HON$138.20 B
3Raytheon Technologies 3RTX$133.44 B
4Airbus 4AIR.PA$116.88 B
57 more rows

What is the oldest aerospace company? ›

The Wright Company was the commercial aviation business venture of the Wright Brothers, established by them on November 22, 1909, in conjunction with several prominent industrialists from New York and Detroit with the intention of capitalizing on their invention of the practical airplane.

Who is the founder of Bigelow Aerospace? ›

Robert Bigelow is an aerospace entrepreneur. He is the founder of Bigelow Aerospace. Bigelow Aerospace has launched two experimental space modules, Genesis I and Genesis II, and has plans for full-scale manned space habitats to be used as orbital hotels, research labs and factories.

Who is the billionaire in Omaha? ›

Omaha's own Warren Buffett is the sixth-wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of at least $133 billion, according to the Forbes 2024 billionaires list.

Who is the richest man in Detroit? ›

Dan Gilbert, the founder of Rocket Mortgage, formerly Quicken Loans, comes in at the richest in Michigan with a net worth of $21.3 billion. Next on the list is Ronda Stryker, the director of Stryker Corp., a medical equipment company. United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia is third with a net worth of $6.7 billion.

Who was the richest person in Boston? ›

Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson remains the wealthiest person in Massachusetts, according to Forbes' most recent list of the world's billionaires, with a net worth of $29 billion. She is the 58th-richest person in the world, a jump from her 2023 ranking at 72nd.

Who owns the ISS? ›

This means that the owners of the Space Station - the United States, Russia, the European Partner, Japan and Canada - are legally responsible for the respective elements they provide. The European States are being treated as one homogenous entity, called the European Partner on the Space Station.

What is the purpose of the Bigelow expandable activity module on the ISS? ›

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an expandable habitat technology demonstration for the International Space Station. Expandable habitats greatly decrease the amount of transport volume for future space missions.

Why is the ISS called Zarya? ›

The Zarya is a descendant of the TKS spacecraft designed for the Soviet Salyut program. The name Zarya ("Dawn") was given to the FGB because it signified the dawn of a new era of international cooperation in space. Although it was built by a Russian company, it is owned by the United States.

Why are they retiring the space station? ›

Gatens says the structure of the space station – which is the size of a football field – is what can't be upgraded and replaced. And something of that size is costly for NASA to maintain. "The big structure, even though it's doing very well, has a finite lifetime. It won't last forever.

Who owns the current space station? ›

The ISS is not owned by one single nation and is a "co-operative programme" between Europe, the United States, Russia, Canada and Japan, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

What happened to this space station in 2001? ›

On March 23, 2001, after 15 years in orbit, Russia's space station Mir reentered over the Pacific Ocean following a controlled deorbit maneuver.

Is Samantha Cristoforetti still in space? ›

She landed safely back on Earth on 14 October 2022. Learn more about Samantha's Minerva mission in this brochure. When not travelling for work, Samantha lives with her partner Lionel and their two children, Kelsi Amel and Dorian Lev, near ESA's Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.

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