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Bigelow Launching New Company To Sell Private Space Stations (popularmechanics.com)
hyperclocker shares a report from Popular Mechanics: The future of spacecraft in lower Earth orbit (LEO) looks to be an increasingly commercial affair. Bigelow Aerospace, a Las Vegas-based company that builds livable space habitats, has now created a spinoff company known as Bigelow Space Operations (BSO). BSO will market and operate any space habitats that Bigelow sells. The creation of BSO signals that Bigelow is preparing for a future of commercial space living. Recently leaked NASA documents show that the Trump Administration wants to convert the International Space Station into a commercial venture, and BSO is betting that businesses including private scientific ventures and hotels will be interested in creating a profit above the Earth. A prototype Bigelow habitat, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), has been connected to the ISS since 2016. It's proven such a successful addition that last year NASA extended its contract for an additional three years. But Bigelow is thinking past the BEAM. In its press release announcing BSO, it highlights its planned launches of the B330-1 and B330-2, spacecraft with 6-person capacity, in 2021.
Most crowd funding projects appear to pour most of their development effort into the site rather than the product. Can't win them dollars without parallax scrolling and cool animated infographics, right? Bigelow do have a rather spartan website. I suppose they do not have to woo the crowd to get funding; their investors know what they are up to.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
the only potentially profitable venture seems to be space-tourism marketed to the ultra-rich.
They are expecting costs to fall significantly thanks to SpaceX and friends. At less than $100 per kg, outer space vacation will be available to more than just the ultra-rich.
According to this, SpaceX's BFR payload capacity to LEO will be up to 150,000kg (as a reusable launcher) with an estimated cost of $7M per launch. That comes down to $47 per kg, or $3700 per (naked) person on average.
Obviously you won't be able to cram 150,000kg of humans in a launcher, and I'm not taking supplies and life support hardware into account. But even at $50,000 per trip, I'm sure a lot of customers would show up.