Posted: Fri, Sep 22, 2006, 8:38 AM ET (1238 GMT)
Bigelow Aerospace announced Thursday that it has signed an agreement with Lockheed Martin to study the use of the Atlas 5 to launch human missions, while making plans to launch a human-rated orbital habitat as early as 2009. The Lockheed Martin agreement initially covers the study of modifications needed to the Atlas 5 so it can safely launch passenger spacecraft, something Lockheed has already been examining, as well as "potential business models and business plans". Under one scenario, that would involve the launch of up to 16 Atlas 5 vehicles a year. Bigelow Aerospace founder Robert Bigelow also announced Thursday that the company is planning a larger inflatable habitat, called Sundancer, that would be ready for launch in late 2009 or early 2010. Sundancer would have life-support systems and 180 cubic meters of habitable volume, and thus could support human crews if a means of transporting them there is available. Bigelow launched a subscale inflatable module, Genesis 1, in July, and it continues to operate well. A second spacecraft, Genesis 2, is scheduled for launch in early 2007. Last month Bigelow announced that it was making significant but unspecified changes to its program intended to accelerate its overall development.
