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Bigelow space station & Boeing Orion Lite - partners in the commercial crew business
Newport News, Virginia Daily Press.....
Newport News, Virginia Daily Press.....
Bigelow Aerospace eyes Wallops for rocket launches
WALLOPS ISLAND
— The only American company to launch a rocket into space from Russia may be opening shop at Wallops Island.
Michael Gold, an attorney who represents Bigelow Aerospace, said the Nevada-based company will work at Wallops provided the nation commits to the commercial spaceflight agenda outlined by President Barack Obama.
"We will be here," Gold told a group of about 50 people recently after a tour of Wallops, where NASA has launched rockets from since 1945.
Bigelow was founded in 1999 by Robert T. Bigelow, who made millions operating the hotel chain, Budget Suites of America. The company made a name for itself in 2006 when it partnered with the U.S.' former Cold War nemesis to launch Genesis I. It used a Russian rocket that once held a nuclear warhead to send an inflatable space station into space.
Bigelow self-financed the aerospace company with $180 million and has said he is willing to spend $320 million more to put a private space station into orbit. The company's success will be determined by finding a reusable vehicle to send humans into space, Gold said.
Key to that is NASA's Commercial Crew Development, a program created to stimulate the development of privately operated space vehicles. Using $50 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, NASA awarded contracts for the program to several companies, including Boeing.
Boeing, which subcontracted with Bigelow, received $18 million and is developing a space capsule called Orion Lite. Bigelow hopes the partnership will eventually lead to regular launches from earth to its space station.
Gold specifically mentioned the Atlas V — a launch system owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin conglomerate, United Launch Alliance — as a possibility. ULA launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Some of its operations, such as Atlas V, could shift to Wallops, Gold said. Such a move could create hundreds of high-paying jobs on the Eastern Shore.
"The economic impact of human spaceflight cannot be underestimated," Gold said.
WALLOPS ISLAND
— The only American company to launch a rocket into space from Russia may be opening shop at Wallops Island.
Michael Gold, an attorney who represents Bigelow Aerospace, said the Nevada-based company will work at Wallops provided the nation commits to the commercial spaceflight agenda outlined by President Barack Obama.
"We will be here," Gold told a group of about 50 people recently after a tour of Wallops, where NASA has launched rockets from since 1945.
Bigelow was founded in 1999 by Robert T. Bigelow, who made millions operating the hotel chain, Budget Suites of America. The company made a name for itself in 2006 when it partnered with the U.S.' former Cold War nemesis to launch Genesis I. It used a Russian rocket that once held a nuclear warhead to send an inflatable space station into space.
Bigelow self-financed the aerospace company with $180 million and has said he is willing to spend $320 million more to put a private space station into orbit. The company's success will be determined by finding a reusable vehicle to send humans into space, Gold said.
Key to that is NASA's Commercial Crew Development, a program created to stimulate the development of privately operated space vehicles. Using $50 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, NASA awarded contracts for the program to several companies, including Boeing.
Boeing, which subcontracted with Bigelow, received $18 million and is developing a space capsule called Orion Lite. Bigelow hopes the partnership will eventually lead to regular launches from earth to its space station.
Gold specifically mentioned the Atlas V — a launch system owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin conglomerate, United Launch Alliance — as a possibility. ULA launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Some of its operations, such as Atlas V, could shift to Wallops, Gold said. Such a move could create hundreds of high-paying jobs on the Eastern Shore.
"The economic impact of human spaceflight cannot be underestimated," Gold said.