It's been a busy day for alt.space (it's going to be a busy week, overall)...on top of the Branson announcement comes a twofer from Robert Bigelow: a space hotel and a new space prize.

While much public attention is focused on the massive International Space Station (ISS), Bigelow has quietly become a mini-Skunk Works for the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC).

Ongoing technical assistance to Bigelow from JSC is focused on helping the company spawn development of orbiting commercial inflatable modules by the end of the decade, with the possibility of JSC later using the Bigelow technology for inflatable modules on the Moon or Mars.

While this isn't really news, the article does provide a bit of additional detail on Bigelow's schedule for technology demonstration flights and initial operating capability:

With 330 cu. meters of volume, each Nautilus has 2.75 times the volume of individual ISS modules, Bigelow says.

Initial Nautilus unmanned operations are possible by 2008 with the first manned flights to dock with the previously unmanned Nautilus possible by 2010, according to Bigelow. The Nautilus would require a Proton-class booster.

Say, isn't 2008 around the time NASA tentatively plans to possibly have a CEV flyoff, maybe?

Preceding the first full-scale Nautilus will be two "Genesis" one-third scale inflation test modules to be launched in 2005 and 2006--one on a SpaceX Falcon V and the other on a Russian "Dneper" commercial version of the SS-18 ballistic missile.

Following those missions will be two "Guardian" 45% scale inflatable module flights in 2007 carrying critical life-support system demonstration hardware.

A Dneper will also launch the Guardian flights and could be used for the first Genesis if the SpaceX Falcon V is not ready.

Good to see he's making contingency plans...

All four of these inflatable test spacecraft will be designed to last for several years in orbit.

There is much more in the second half of the article, including descriptions of technology demonstrations conducted and test and simulation hardware built.

The new development here, however, is what Bigelow is calling America's Space Prize:

Company founder and millionaire Robert T. Bigelow told Aviation Week & Space Technology that he will announce as early as this week a new $50-million space launch contest called America's Space Prize.

The objective is to spur development of a low-cost commercial manned orbital vehicle capable of launching 5-7 astronauts at a time to Bigelow inflatable modules by the end of the decade.

America's Space Prize will be patterned somewhat after the Ansari X-Prize that will go to the first team to demonstrate back-to-back suborbital flights.

America's Space Prize, however, is to award five times more money than the $10-million X-Prize. And if successful, the winner of America's Prize would have developed something different--the first commercial manned orbital spacecraft--which unlike the X-Prize, could be used for something other than just a spectacular ride.

The new contest also presents challenges far greater than the X-Prize by requiring development of a vehicle that could maneuver to dock at well over 100 mi. altitude and survive a 17,500-mph. reentry.

America's Prize will be set up so the winner can propose launch on an existing (even non-U.S.) booster, depending upon the entrant's spacecraft configuration.

Bigelow is committing $25 million to the prize, and more than one additional proprietary benefactor is in final discussion with Bigelow for the other half. Potential funding partners include NASA, as a follow-up to the prize-related recommendations by the Aldridge Commission on Exploration.

One wonders who that "additional proprietary benefactor" might be...

Posted by T.L. James on September 27, 2004 10:11 PM