Bigelow Aerospace is developing orbital stations that will replace the ISS

The company Bigelow Aerospace, which manufactures inflatable modules for the ISS orbital space station, announced its intention to create its own space stations. The project partner will be the Center for the Development of Science in Space - this organization manages the US segment of the International Space Station, the ISS. Well, to manage the new space stations will be established by the partner company-operator Bigelow Space Operations (BSO).

"Bigelow Space Operations will sell, manage and operate new space stations created by Bigelow Aerospace," according to the organization’s Twitter account.

The company believes that its stations can be successfully used by government agencies, private companies and research experts. Before embarking on the implementation of any serious project, the company will study the market. The fact is that the commercial exploitation of orbital stations is a new direction of astronautics, so the issue needs to be dealt with in detail.

Several million dollars will be spent on market research. The competitor to Bigelow Aerospace may be China, which also has plans to create its own station. Moreover, the Celestial Empire is already in talks to share its station with partners from other countries. According to sources close to the Chinese officials who implement this program, the terms of cooperation are extremely attractive.

Orbital module launches are scheduled for Bigelow in 2021. Then two start-ups will be implemented at once - modules B330-1 and B330-2. The modules will live astronauts, and on a permanent basis. These structures are test ones, and if they show themselves well, the company will launch an entire orbital station into orbit, and only one rocket will launch it into space. The fact is that the modules of the station created by Bigelow will be compressed, their volume in this state is minimal. The project will be implemented in Florida, Alabama or other suitable places.

The whole story began with the creation of an inflatable test module for the ISS. He was docked with the station in 2016, with the second attempt was successful. As it turned out, the module walls are strong enough to withstand the conditions of space. The module walls are a material with a complex structure, which consists of Kevlar-like fibers (body armor and other protective systems are made of it). In May of this year it will be two years ago, as the module is in space. During this time, micrometeorites and fragments of space debris repeatedly crashed into the walls, but the shell remained intact.

The walls are able to protect the inhabitants from radiation. According to the company that manufactured the inflatable modules, there may well be a group of astronauts in them, without any harm to themselves. Now there are plans to create a special radiation shield that will be used to protect equipment, products or astronauts, depending on the purpose for which the module will be used.


The same module with the ISS from Bigelow Aerospace

As for the parameters of the module, Bigelow Aerospace makes its modules 9 times lighter than standard ones that are sheathed in aluminum. The mass of the inflatable system is only 1360 kilograms. But the mass of a regular Unity module is about 11 tons. At the same time, Beam is easier to put into orbit than an example, since it occupies the minimum volume of the launch vehicle.

Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace is one of six companies that collaborate with NASA on a commercial basis as part of a project to develop prototype residential modules in deep space. These developments, according to NASA's plan, will be used to create orbital stations on the Moon and Mars, not to mention the Earth. As part of this cooperation, NASA allocates six companies $ 65 million over two years, with the possibility of additional funding in the next, 2018. In addition, each of the partners should be able to cover at least 30% of the cost of the work at their own expense. The partnership itself is called Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2).

Now the management of Bigelow decided to continue work and create their own stations, as US President Donald Trump refused to fund the ISS. Starting in 2024, the United States will no longer continue its mission. But if private orbital stations go into space, this will be a good chance for private astronautics. The government will then practically not participate in many areas of work in this area.