Private space station company Bigelow Aerospace, based in North Las Vegas, Nevada, successfully launched its Genesis 2 prototype space station from a Russian Dnepr rocket on Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 11:02 a.m. EDT (15:02 GMT).

The launch occurred at Yasny Launch Base, a  Russian strategic missile facility. The Dnepr booster rocket is a converted ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile), which launches artificial satellites into orbit. Russian-Ukrainian launch service provider ISC Kosmotras coordinates the launches of Dnepr rockets, the first of which occurred on April 21, 1999 when it successfully inserted an UoSAT-12 satellite into orbit.

The Genesis spacecraft is an inflatable module that carries 22 cameras, sensors, and avionics to monitor and control the spacecraft. It is 15 feet (4.4 meters) in length and 5.25 feet (1.6 meters) in diameter but expands to about twice that diameter once in orbit about the Earth. It has an internal volume of 406 cubic feet (11.5 cubic meters). Its eight solar arrays extend out to 8 feet (2.5 meters).

NASA developed the expandable modules being used by Bigelow under its cancelled Transhab program. After elimination of the program, Bigelow Aerospace was granted the sole rights to the expandable module technology.

The Genesis series of space stations are expandable modules that will be sent into Earth orbit with the intent to provide commercial space habitats for private companies and national space agencies.

The inflatable modules are expected to be more durable and safer than rigid modules because the 1-foot outer skin is made of several layers of a material that is twice as strong as Kevlar®. Inner layers are made of other protective materials that add to the safety of the walls. The inflatable walls of the Bigelow space station is expected to be able to withstand micrometeorite and space debris impacts better than rigid walls, say of the International Space Station.

The successor to the Genesis-class module is called Galaxy. It is a full-scale expandable module—about three times larger than Genesis.

The third-generation spacecraft, called Sundancer, will house a three-person crew in a livable volume of 6,356 cubic feet (180 cubic meters). Later, in the 2011-2012 timeframe, Bigelow Aerospace hopes to add a BA-330 module to Sundancer, to add another 11,653 cubic feet (330 cubic meters) to the living volume.

Robert Bigelow is the founder and president of Bigelow Aerospace. Bigelow expects his modules will be used for industrial and scientific purposes, but also for space tourism. The website of Bigelow Aerospace is http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/

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