Bigelow Aerospace has been talking to the United Launch Alliance for months about what would be required to man-rate the Atlas 5 rocket to launch crews to BA's planned space station, according to both sides. Those talks have become negotiations focused on putting the space station in orbit in 2011, and transporting crew and cargo to the station for several years thereafter.
The Atlas 5 has an excellent record for safety and reliability, which is why BA saw it as a good candidate to be upgraded so it can be licensed to launch people. Launches would likely be from Cape Canaveral in Florida, where the necessary infrastructure already exists. If the shuttle is retired in 2010, as planned, and BA meets its projections, the Americans flying into space from the Space Coast between 2010 and the first flight of Orion, perhaps in 2015, will be employees of a private company, not NASA astronauts.
BA plans to build space stations and habitats for use on the Moon and beyond based on inflatable modules. It has already had great success with the concept. Two test satellites, Genesis 1 and 2, have performed well and continue to function in Earth orbit.
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