[~OT] Commercial space station to launch before 2010

Sorry, no URL for this.

I'm almost certain this 'Bigelow Aerospace' is owned by multimillionaire
Robert Bigelow, who has often been accused of having far more money than,
well, you know.....

If this never 'gets off the ground,' don't be too surprised.
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The world's first privately financed space station could be launched
before 2010, a statement by Bigelow Aerospace suggests. The US company is
accelerating its schedule to save money.

Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, Bigelow Aerospace has successfully placed two
inflatable spacecraft, called Genesis I and Genesis II, in Earth orbit. It
wants eventually to launch habitable space stations for use by paying
customers such as space tourists.

The company had planned to orbit a third spacecraft called Galaxy in 2008
before lofting its Sundancer space station, able to support a crew of
three, into orbit in 2010. But a statement by founder Robert Bigelow that
was posted on the company's website on Tuesday says rising launch costs
have pushed the company to forego the launch of Galaxy and bring forward
Sundancer's launch.

The company had previously said it planned to launch Sundancer in 2010.
Although Bigelow has not given a new date for launch, the statement says
the schedule change means private space habitats "could be arriving much
earlier than any of us had previously anticipated".

It remains unclear how any customers would travel to the Sundancer
station, however.

Ground tests

Galaxy, or at least parts of it, will still be built and tested, but on
the ground rather than in space, the statement says.

Bigelow's Genesis I and II spacecraft launched aboard Russian Dnepr
rockets. But launching Galaxy would have cost two to three times as much
due to inflation and a falling US dollar, Bigelow says.

"While recognising the inherent difficulty, all of us at BA are eager to
begin work on an actual human spaceflight program, which is the reason
that I and others began this effort in the first place," Bigelow's
statement says.

The announcement comes three days after reports that another company
called Galactic Suite intends to put a three-bedroom space hotel in orbit
by 2012.


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