Bigelow Commercial Space Station

Early work at Bigelow Aerospace on expandable space habitats, with plans to eventually assemble them into on-orbit space stations, began in the early years after the company was formed in 1999. By 2004, plans made public included assembly of multiple modules "into a manned space facility in low Earth orbit for both and funded research and for space tourism." Two more formal concepts have since been made public. By 2005, Bigelow space station plans had been further conceptualized into Commercial Space Station Skywalker, or CSS Skywalker. CSS Skywalker The CSS Skywalker (Commercial Space Station Skywalker) was a 2005 concept for the first "space hotel" by Bigelow Aerospace. The Skywalker was designed to be composed of multiple Nautilus (B330) habitat modules, which would be inflated and connected upon reaching orbit. An MDPM (Multi-Directional Propulsion Module) would allow the Skywalker to be moved into interplanetary or lunar trajectories. In short, CSS Skywalker was "an effort to build the planet's first orbiting space hotel, [with a projected] room rate of USD$1 million per night", and a hoped-for launch date for the first Nautilus module of 2010. In mid-2009, Bigelow announced they were continuing to develop a variety of space habitat architectures. Space transport In 2008, Bigelow initially began talks with Lockheed Martin to potentially contract launch services on its Atlas V-401 vehicle for both crew and cargo launches. By mid-2010, Bigelow was actively pursuing launch options for its space station modules and crew capsules from two launch systems: the Boeing CST-100 capsule on a ULA Atlas V launcher and also the SpaceX Dragon / Falcon 9 capsule/launcher combination. With the initial Space Complex Alpha, Bigelow "would need six flights a year; with the launch of a second, larger station, that number would grow to 24, or two a month." In 2014, plans called for transport of humans and resupply cargo to the station to be via a SpaceX Dragon V2, with a round-trip seat priced at . Lease of the on-orbit stations was priced at to rent one-third of a B330 module for 60 days. The B330 modules and any of several tugs were planned for launch aboard a Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. ==Space Complex Alpha==

facility The Bigelow Next-Generation Commercial Space Station was announced in mid-2010. named Space Complex Alpha after October 2010. In early 2013, Bigelow Aerospace started referring to Alpha as consisting of two B330 modules instead of two Sundancer and one B330. A seventh country signed on in February 2011: the United Arab Emirates In August 2015, Michael Gold stated that the timetable for the first B330 deployment is uncertain at the moment since it is tied to the development of private astronaut taxis that can get people to orbit. With this projected to be 2017 or later Bigelow expects to be "ready when they are". In April 2016, the two B330s attached together were also questioned, by suggesting that the first B330 might ideally be attached to the International Space Station or that each B330 could operate on its own. Construction would require three medium lift launches and one heavy lift launch. In October 2011, Reuters reported that Bigelow had "pared its 115-member workforce to 51 [...] because of delays developing space taxis needed to fly people to the outposts." On-orbit assembly of the Bigelow Next-Generation Commercial Space Station components was projected to begin in 2014. , construction of the orbital complex was projected to occur in seven principal steps, • Unit 1: Sundancer-one module, with a pressurized volume of 180 cubic meters (m3), (unoccupied) • Unit 2: Commercial crew capsule arrives with Bigelow Aerospace astronauts to set up Sundancer-one and carry additional supplies • Unit 3: Supplemental power bus and docking node • Unit 4: Sundancer-two • Unit 5: Second commercial crew capsule brings additional crew and supplies, and provides a redundant method for crew return to Earth. • Unit 6: B330, larger-volume module (330 m3) • Unit 7: Third commercial crew capsule brings additional supplies and provides a double-redundant, robust solution for astronaut re-entry. ==Commercial leasing==

In January 2013, Bigelow announced that they would sell naming rights to the dual-B330-module Alpha complex for US$25 million per year. In 2014, Bigelow announced that prices for human access to the space station were expected to be US$26.25 million aboard a SpaceX Dragon, or US$36.75 million aboard a Boeing CST-100. The price for a two-month lease of one-third of a module (approximately ) was provisionally set at US$25 million. ==Technical==

Docking system Bigelow was planning to equip its expandable space modules with both a Soyuz-style docking system on one end and a NASA-standard Low Impact Docking System on the other. The available docking port options for the Next Generation Commercial Space Station have not yet been released. Test program The "human-in-the-loop testing of the environmental control and life support system (ECLSS)" for Sundancer began in October 2010. By January 2013, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) pressurised module was under development by Bigelow Aerospace, being purchased by NASA for attachment to the International Space Station. The module has been performing well, and in October 2017, it was announced that the module would stay attached to the ISS until 2020, with options for two further one-year extensions. The module is being used to store up to 130 cargo transfer bags in an effort to free up additional space aboard the station. ==Launch planning==

Potential launch options are in the mid-heavy lift launch system class of launch vehicles, where Bigelow has now negotiated arrangements with two commercial launch providers. both SpaceX—using the Falcon 9/Dragon— and United Launch Alliance/Boeing—using the Atlas V/CST-100—have signed to deliver launch services to Bigelow Space Station Alpha. In addition to the Atlas launches for the expandable modules, Bigelow had reserved a single 2014 Launch on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, but that launch had not taken place as of early 2019. , press reports indicate that Bigelow will launch at least some of their crews to the station on the human-rated Atlas V utilizing the Boeing CST-100 seven-person space capsule. In April 2016, Bigelow signed an agreement with United Launch Alliance to launch the first B330 module in 2020 using an Atlas V rocket. In October 2017, Bigelow Aerospace and United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced they were working together to launch a B330 expandable module on ULA's Vulcan launch vehicle. The launch would place a B330 module in Earth orbit, and after outfitting it would be boosted to low lunar orbit by two further Vulcan ACES launches by the end of 2022 to serve as a lunar depot. As this announcement stated that only a Vulcan had the performance and fairing capacity needed to launch a B330, it appears that any Atlas V launches would be for crew rather than B330 modules. The timeline may be 'aspirational' as ULA have indicated that the Vulcan will transition to using the ACES upper stage around 2024. ==Long-term proposals==

In late 2010, Bigelow indicated that the company would like to construct ten or more space stations and that there is a substantial commercial market to support such growth. Future space station concepts In 2010, Bigelow said that second orbital station—Space Complex Bravo—was scheduled to begin launches in 2016 and go into commercial operation in 2017. This complex would consist of four B330 modules. Bigelow has publicly shown space station design configurations with up to nine B330 modules containing of habitable space. • Advanced Medical Facility () - Nine B330 modules, three propulsion buses with docking node, three crew capsules. • Biological Containment Station Low Earth Orbit ( habitable, remotely controlled) • Biological Research Station Low Earth Orbit () • Deep Space Complex () - Four B330 modules, nine propulsion buses with docking node and three docking ports. • Lunar Depot Ares () - Three B330 modules, four propulsion buses with docking nodes. The entire station would land directly onto the moon. It is intended to hold 12 astronauts but is capable of holding 18. Near the lunar base there would be a solar array field. A model of this concept has been built. • Mars Exploration () - Four B330 modules, three propulsion buses with docking node. • Resupply Depot Hercules () - Announced Oct 2010 Six B330 modules, three BA 2100 modules, nine propulsion buses with docking node and three crew capsules. ==See also==