CONGRATULATIONS BIGELOW AEROSPACE!


Foundation Applauds Launch of First Commercial Inflatable Habitat

Bigelow Nautilus module
Bigelow plans to fly the full size Nautilus module within a few years.
Artwork courtesy Bigelow Aerospace.
Los Angeles, CA, July 13, 2006 - The Space Frontier Foundation
congratulated Bigelow Aerospace on the successful launch of its Genesis
1 inflatable space module Wednesday. Placed in orbit aboard a Russian
Dnepr rocket, the 8 foot diameter (when inflated) test module presages
ever larger components of what will eventually become the world's first
commercially built and operated space station.

"Small steps and giant leaps. That is what the opening of a frontier is
all about," said the Foundation's Rick Tumlinson. "This small step
towards the creation of an orbital station is actually part of a giant
leap forward in the opening of space."

The Genesis test module is a 1/3 scale model of the full size Nautilus
module Bigelow plans to launch in a few years, which, when fully
inflated, will enclose the volume of a three bedroom house. Bigelow
Aerospace, located in Las Vegas Nevada, has been working for several
years to develop the inflatable concept, which is based on designs it
licensed from NASA several years ago. The Foundation sees this as a
demonstration of how taxpayer funded research can benefit the private
sector, and how business can take ideas started in government and turn
them into economic realities benefiting all.

"This project shows that if NASA works with the private sector in the
right way, amazing things happen," said Tumlinson. "Robert Bigelow took
an idea pioneered in government labs and with his own hard earned money
turned it into a reality. When the full-size structure opens its
airlocks to the first guests, America will be opening a new era in
space, where private citizens, from hotel guests to commercial
scientists can join government employees on this important frontier."

The Bigelow effort is part of what the Foundation calls the NewSpace
industry, encompassing a wide range of entrepreneurially driven efforts
built on the legacy of the U.S. space program, creating an economically
profitable human presence in space. It believes the U.S. should do all
it can to encourage this trend by, for example, supporting the growth
of commercial space transportation firms. Unfortunately, the U.S. has
offered little support for them, favoring instead giant government led
projects like the current NASA Crew Exploration Vehicle, which keep
costs high and limit access to space.

"While we salute his Russian partners, it is sad that Bigelow had to go
to offshore to get an affordable launch for this test, and that he may
be dependent on foreign ships to carry his passengers when his full
scale station opens for business," stated Tumlinson. "The U.S. has the
chance right now to kick start a vibrant NewSpace transportation
industry, which will save taxpayers billions of dollars and support
initiatives like this, but it will require a much stronger effort on
the part of the government than we now see."

The Foundation believes Nautilus and other possible private facilities
will serve as destinations for NewSpace transport firms, which combined
with government transport needs will spur the growth of a space
transportation market. Eventually the bottom line driven NewSpace
industry will not require taxpayer support at all, but will lead to an
entire new commercial economy in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) producing jobs,
products and breakthroughs of all sorts, from materials to medicines
and perhaps even new energy sources.

Tumlinson concluded: "Imagine, in ten years we will have fleets of
commercial space ships carrying people and products to and from
commercial space facilities, be they hotels, research labs or
industrial plants producing new products that can only be made in
space. With projects like this beginning to happen, it is clear NASA's
Lewis and Clarks have done their job here in LEO. It is time for them
to move onward and outwards, and let the people take over here in the
near frontier."

Robert Bigelow will be speaking at the Foundation's NewSpace 2006
Conference in Las Vegas July 19-23, 2006.
The Space Frontier Foundation is an organization of people dedicated to
opening the Space Frontier to human settlement as rapidly as possible.
Our goals include protecting the Earth's fragile biosphere and creating
a freer and more prosperous life for each generation by using the
unlimited energy and material resources of space. Our purpose is to
unleash the power of free enterprise and lead a united humanity
permanently into the Solar System.

.

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