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The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an experimental expandable space station module developed by Bigelow Aerospace, under contract to NASA, for testing as a temporary module on the International Space Station (ISS) from 2016 to at most 2028, when the contract can not be further extended.
In December 2012, Bigelow began development work on the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) under a US$17.8 million NASA contract. [12] After a number of delays, BEAM was transported to ISS arriving on 10 April 2016, inside the unpressurized cargo trunk of a SpaceX Dragon during the SpaceX CRS-8 cargo mission. [13]
The Bigelow Next-Generation Commercial Space Station was a private orbital space station under conceptual development by Bigelow Aerospace in the 2000s and 2010s. [1] Previous concepts of the space station had included multiple modules, such as two B330 expandable spacecraft modules as well as a central docking node, propulsion, solar arrays, and attached crew capsules.
Bigelow Aerospace has big plans for its future expandable space stations, so it has formed a whole new company for them. Called Bigelow Space Operations (BSO), the new private space company will ...
Bigelow claimed that the module provided radiation protection equivalent to, and ballistic protection superior to, the International Space Station. [ 7 ] The exterior of the craft was 16.88 meters (55 ft) long by 6.7 meters (22 ft) in diameter [ 5 ] and the module weighed 23,000 kilograms (50,000 lb).
In April 2016, Bigelow's BEAM module was launched to the International Space Station [8] on the eighth SpaceX cargo resupply mission. [17] 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. [18]
The larger BA 2100 would extend the volume and capabilities of the B330 module, which is under development as part of the Bigelow Commercial Space Station. [4] As with the B330 module, the number in the name refers to the number of cubic meters of space offered by the module when fully expanded in space (equivalent to 74,000 cubic feet). [5]
Genesis I is an experimental space habitat designed and built by the private American firm Bigelow Aerospace and launched in 2006. It was the first module to be sent into orbit by the company, and tested various systems, materials and techniques related to determining the viability of long-term inflatable space structures through 2008.