BA Hits Milestone

Bigelow Aerospace's first experimental spacecraft, Genesis 1, has now completed ten thousand orbits of Earth over nearly two years, and is still functioning well. BA's second satellite, Genesis 2, is also performing properly. Two for two right out of the box is quite an accomplishment for a new space company.

BA, however, has bigger plans. The basic task of the Genesis series is to establish that inflatable spacecraft can be deployed and maintained in orbit. That task seems to have been achieved. By 2012, BA plans to have an inflatable module that can support humans. Linking such modules together could create an orbiting research facility, or an orbiting hotel. Later, such structures could serve as habitats on the Moon, and possibly on Mars.

If BA can continue its success, the sky is not the limit.