BA Goes to Sundancer

Robert Bigelow, chair of Bigelow Aerospace, has announced that BA will accelerate its development program and move quickly to build Sundancer, the company's first inflatable craft that could actually support humans.

The decision was based on various factors. One involves economics-- BA is a for-profit company, remember. Rising launch costs in Russia plus the falling U. S. dollar has made launching from Russia less attractinve. Given the remarkable success of the company's first two experimental modules, Genesis I and II. Bigelow has decided to skip launching its Galaxy craft in favor of moving ahead with Sundancer, which could support a crew of three.

Sundancer could be it orbit by 2010. In announcing his decision, Mr. Bigelow noted that the private sector move into human spaceflight may come faster than anyone thought. Perhaps, but as of now, no private, manned vehicle has reached orbit, let alone returned safely, let alone accomplished such flights routinely, and the current shuttle mission is reminding us how challenging that is. The BA move is exciting, however. If all goes well for BA, Galactic Suite, Space Adventures, and NASA's Moon-Mars (possibly asteroid) program, historians in the far future may peg the next decade as the time humans became a spacefaring people.