Bigelow Aerospace plans to send inflatable hotel to orbit the moon
Bigelow Aerospace
Bigelow Aerospace  says  its  inflatable space hotel could be ready for lunar orbit by 2022.
 Bigelow  is touting the future pod as a hub for "lunar business development " but  the company  would probably need  NASA  to get  it  funded.
 Bigelow Aerospace  a Las Vegas-based space pod company   wants to send an inflatable space hotel to orbit the moon  with accommodations for astronauts and citizen space travelers alike.
 The company  partnered with  NASA  in 2016 to attach an inflatable  soft-shell demo pod onto the International Space Station. Now   Bigelow  has announced that a bigger inflatable pod  which it's calling the B330 "lunar depot"  could be orbiting the moon in five years.
That moon station is much more ambitious than  Bigelow 's ISS add-on. It's designed to stand alone and is about a third of the size of the ISS.  The company  suggests the pod could hold roughly six people  and is billing it as a hub for "significant lunar business development."
Providing accommodations for future space travelers is a logical next step for  the company 's founder  Robert Bigelow  who owns the Budget Suites of America hotel chain and has been working on creating expandable space modules since 1999.
United Launch Alliance  a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin  plans to partner with  Bigelow  to launch the habitat into space  then get it circling around the moon.
Expandable  soft-shell space habitats are easier to fit into rockets for launch than other heavier structures.  Bigelow  said in a statement that  its  pods also “provide for greater volume  safety  opportunity and economy than the aluminum alternatives.”
The company's 'Bigelow Expandable Activity Module ' or BEAM  was attached to the International Space Station in April 2016 and then blown up to full size that May. Astronauts don't live inside it  but they use the space for experiments  collecting air and surface samples to test for microbes  as well as monitoring how effective the BEAM is at blocking radiation. NASA has said it might extend BEAM's stay at the ISS beyond its initial two year test run  and use the inflatable space as long-term storage. The space agency has said that so far  the soft materials  Bigelow  used to create BEAM are proving they can perform just as well as more rigid structures in space.
In a couple of Tweets on Tuesday   Bigelow  seemed to suggest that  he 'd need NASA funding to fully execute  his  space hotel plans. The Washington Post puts the project's price tag at $2.3 billion.
"Re. Lunar Depot: Capital has been flowing from both companies and will continue "  Bigelow  wrote  then added  "NASA & this country will need to have investment also to pay for the benefits."
NASA is currently working on a 'Deep Space Gateway' project with the Russian Space Agency  which could involve a site near the moon that would serve as a pit-stop for astronauts on long-term missions to Mars. NASA has said that site would have a "small habitat to extend crew time." In a statement sent to Business Insider  NASA confirmed  Bigelow  is one of six companies the agency has selected to develop full-size prototypes for the habitat.
The US has pledged to send humans to Mars by 2033. In an announcement about the B330 last year   Bigelow  and United Launch Alliance said that this habitat could house researchers on their way to the Red Planet.
[TGT]says  [TGT]  inflatable space hotel could be ready for lunar orbit by 2022.
 [TGT]is touting the future pod as a hub for "lunar business development " but  [TGT]would probably need  NASA  to get  [TGT]  funded.
 [TGT]a Las Vegas-based space pod company   wants to send an inflatable space hotel to orbit the moon  with accommodations for astronauts and citizen space travelers alike.
 [TGT]partnered with  NASA  in 2016 to attach an inflatable  soft-shell demo pod onto the International Space Station. Now   [TGT]has announced that a bigger inflatable pod  which [TGT]'s calling the B330 "lunar depot"  could be orbiting the moon in five years.
That moon station is much more ambitious than  [TGT] 's ISS add-on. It's designed to stand alone and is about a third of the size of the ISS.  [TGT]suggests the pod could hold roughly six people  and is billing it as a hub for "significant lunar business development."
Providing accommodations for future space travelers is a logical next step for  the company 's founder  Robert Bigelow  who owns the Budget Suites of America hotel chain and has been working on creating expandable space modules since 1999.
United Launch Alliance  a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin  plans to partner with  Bigelow  to launch the habitat into space  then get it circling around the moon.
Expandable  soft-shell space habitats are easier to fit into rockets for launch than other heavier structures.  [TGT]said in a statement that  [TGT]  pods also “provide for greater volume  safety  opportunity and economy than the aluminum alternatives.”
The company's 'Bigelow Expandable Activity Module ' or BEAM  was attached to the International Space Station in April 2016 and then blown up to full size that May. Astronauts don't live inside it  but they use the space for experiments  collecting air and surface samples to test for microbes  as well as monitoring how effective the BEAM is at blocking radiation. NASA has said it might extend BEAM's stay at the ISS beyond its initial two year test run  and use the inflatable space as long-term storage. The space agency has said that so far  the soft materials  [TGT]used to create BEAM are proving they can perform just as well as more rigid structures in space.
In a couple of Tweets on Tuesday   [TGT]seemed to suggest that  [TGT] 'd need NASA funding to fully execute  [TGT]  space hotel plans. The Washington Post puts the project's price tag at $2.3 billion.
"Re. Lunar Depot: Capital has been flowing from both companies and will continue "  Bigelow  wrote  then added  "NASA & this country will need to have investment also to pay for the benefits."
NASA is currently working on a 'Deep Space Gateway' project with the Russian Space Agency  which could involve a site near the moon that would serve as a pit-stop for astronauts on long-term missions to Mars. NASA has said that site would have a "small habitat to extend crew time." In a statement sent to Business Insider  NASA confirmed  [TGT]is one of six companies the agency has selected to develop full-size prototypes for the habitat.
The US has pledged to send humans to Mars by 2033. In an announcement about the B330 last year   [TGT]and United Launch Alliance said that this habitat could house researchers on their way to the Red Planet.