NASA agrees to $17.8 million inflatable extension to ISS

A look at the Bigelow Aerospace BA 330.

(Credit: Bigelow Aerospace)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has awarded a small startup a lucrative contract on expanding the International Space Station.

NASA announced last week that Bigelow Aerospace has been awarded a $17.8 million contract to deliver to the agency an inflatable extension for the International Space Station. According to NASA, the extension, known as the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module "will demonstrate the benefits of this space habitat technology for future exploration and commercial space endeavors."

Inflatable space technology is nothing new. In fact, the first passive communications satellites -- Echo 1 and Echo 2 -- were both inflatable. NASA determined in 1958 that the satellites would be too big to fit into the Thor-Delta rocket, so scientists decided to allow the satellites to inflate when they got into space.

The idea of a self-contained inflatable habitat for space exploration has been in place for decades. However, due to NASA budget constraints, the so-called "Transit Habitat," which was to help get crews to Mars with inflatable technology, was cancelled in 2000.

Since its founding in 1998, Bigelow has been working on its own ... [Read more]





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