CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Robert Bigelow, hotelier and space entrepreneur, came here to Cape Canaveral on Feb. 2 with a plan to help keep Florida’s Space Coast afloat.
The founder of Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace is depending on commercial passenger launch services for his business, in which he has already invested $215 million, to succeed. Bigelow is gearing up for mass production of inflatable space habitats, an idea pioneered by a team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in the late 1990s. The company plans to lease space aboard the stations to foreign nations, research organizations and businesses (Aerospace DAILY, May 6, 2010). Seven clients in The Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, Singapore, Australia, United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirate of Dubai have signed memorandums of understanding.
One of the keys to Bigelow’s success is an exemption from International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) restrictions. “Our aerospace company is the only aerospace company in the United States that is ITAR-exempt. That was not easy. We achieved that a while back,” Bigelow told about 150 community leaders and journalists gathered to hear his pitch for the Space Coast. The event was organized by Space Florida, a state-backed agency.
Bigelow’s plans for Florida begin with a $1 million customer showroom/exhibit hall filled with one-third scale models of the inflatable habitats. “Space Florida would be able to use these exhibits to explain to local, state and federal politicians what the new era of space activity would look like,” Bigelow says.
The pitch is crucial to winning state support for a commercially operated spaceport, most likely carved out of some of the excess capacity at Kennedy Space Center. NASA is currently soliciting ideas and gauging interest among non-federal agencies, research institutes and businesses to take over shuttle launch pads, payload processing plants and other facilities that are part of the shuttle program, which ends in about six months (Aerospace DAILY, Jan. 25).
“The absolute, ultimate, most important action, I think, that the state of Florida can take, beginning now, is to secure launch facilities to be used exclusively by the new commercial space industry and to provide all possible political support,” Bigelow says.
“As the launch facility landlord,” he adds, “Florida and Space Florida will need lots of money. You can’t expect to lease launch facilities that are in poor condition, dangerous, not up to code or worse, insufficient for customers’ needs. You also can’t expect space launch companies to invest in facilities as owners because that would cause them to divert substantial capital away from their core business.”
Eventually Bigelow’s presence in Brevard County could include manufacturing facilities for gigantic modules that would need to be built right near the launch site.
The company has been operating two prototypes in orbit for about five years and targets 2015 for launch of its first operational outpost and a train of commercial rocket launches for ferry flights and cargo runs.
With two stations in orbit, Bigelow would need 25 launches per year to carry customers and cargo, says George Sowers, vice president of business development for United Launch Alliance.
“We’re significantly dependent on a good private enterprise transportation system that’s cost-effective, efficient and reliable,” Bigelow says. “Florida already has the facilities that would support a significant launch rate.”
Bigelow and Space Florida have signed a memorandum of understanding that provides for a broad range of collaborative efforts to develop Florida’s commercial space marketplace. “We’re really pleased to stand behind one of the few champions of commercial space activity,” says Space Florida president and chief executive Frank DiBello.
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