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A milestone in commercial space flight

Inflation technology may help build an orbital outpost to serve as a space hotel or laboratory

— PHOTO: AP

A model of the Genesis I spacecraft.

LOS ANGELES: An experimental spacecraft bankrolled by American real estate magnate Robert Bigelow successfully inflated in orbit, testing a technology that could be used to fulfil his dream of building a commercial space station.

In a brief statement posted on his Web site, Mr. Bigelow said the Genesis I satellite ``successfully expanded'' several hours after lift-off on Wednesday. No other details were provided.

Genesis I flew aboard a converted Cold War ballistic missile from Russia's southern Ural Mountains at 6:53 p.m. Moscow time on Wednesday. It was boosted about 515 km above Earth minutes after launch, according to the Russian Strategic Missile Forces.

The launch was a first for the start-up Bigelow Aerospace, founded by Mr. Bigelow, who owns the Budget Suites of America hotel chain. Mr. Bigelow is among several entrepreneurs attempting to break into the fledgling manned commercial space flight business.

Mission controllers established communication with Genesis I about seven hours after launch. Early indications showed its GPS tracking system was working and that it had deployed its solar panels.

Mr. Bigelow hopes to use inflation technology to build an expandable orbital outpost made up of several Genesis-like modules strung together like sausage links that could serve as a space hotel, science laboratory or even a sports arena.

``We're ecstatic. We're just elated,'' Mr. Bigelow said in a telephone interview from Las Vegas. ``We have a sense of being on a great adventure.''

The goal of the maiden Genesis mission will focus on the inflation process — a key element to determining the feasibility of constructing an expandable space habitat. Mr. Bigelow has committed $500 million toward building a commercial space station by 2015. So far, $75 million has been spent on the project. In the 1990s, NASA studied inflatable technology for a possible trip to Mars, but later dropped the idea after deciding inflatable modules were too expensive. Bigelow Aerospace then licensed the technology from NASA.

This fall, the company hopes to launch Genesis II. — AP

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