The fundamental innovation of Bigelow Aerospace's products lay in their soft-bodied architecture. These habitats were designed to be launched in a compact, compressed configuration inside a standard rocket fairing, and then expanded upon reaching orbit through internal pressurization. This method offered several key advantages over traditional rigid, aluminum-canister space modules, including a much greater internal volume per unit launch mass, increased safety through superior multi-layer shielding, and enhanced overall cost-efficiency. The company's goal was to provide affordable, commercial space platforms for a diverse range of customers and uses, including microgravity research, space manufacturing, and orbital tourism, located in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and beyond.

Products and Services

Bigelow Aerospace???s offerings spanned from subscale technology demonstrators to large, full-scale commercial space station modules and operational services:

• Genesis I and Genesis II

  • These were the company???s first two unmanned subscale prototype spacecraft, successfully launched into orbit in 2006 and 2007, respectively.
  • They operated as free-flying test missions.
  • The purpose of the Genesis program was to validate the key technologies of the expandable habitat design, including the on-orbit deployment and inflation, pressurization, and long-term safe operation of the soft-bodied structure.

• Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM)

  • The BEAM is the company???s most notable and successful product to date, developed in partnership with NASA under a contract to supply an expandable habitat module for the International Space Station (ISS).
  • It was launched to the ISS in April 2016 and successfully attached to the Tranquility node.
  • The BEAM served as a technology demonstrator, becoming the first human-rated expandable module to be operated in orbit. It provided approximately 16 cubic meters (565 cubic feet) of internal volume.
  • Following its initial demonstration phase, the BEAM continued to perform above expectations and was integrated as an operational asset on the ISS, primarily utilized for storage.

• B330

  • The B330 was Bigelow Aerospace's primary design for a full-scale, human-rated, stand-alone commercial space habitat.
  • The name signifies its pressurized internal volume of 330 cubic meters (11,650 cubic feet), which is approximately one-third the volume of the entire International Space Station.
  • The company intended the B330 to serve as a versatile space destination. A single B330 module could operate as a private space station, or multiple units could be linked together to create larger, modular orbital facilities.
  • Conceptual applications included serving as commercial space stations in Low Earth Orbit, a habitat for lunar missions, and even a base for the lunar surface.

• Olympus and First Base

  • Olympus was a conceptual design for a "monster module," planned to be six times larger than the B330.
  • First Base was a conceptual plan for the B330 module being used as a habitat on the lunar surface.

• Bigelow Space Operations (BSO)

  • A subsidiary company formed in 2018 to handle the operational and marketing aspects of the future commercial space stations.
  • BSO???s function was to manage the commercial operations of the orbital habitats, a service intended to generate revenue from diverse customers such as corporations and foreign governments.

Current Status

Bigelow Aerospace's operations ceased in March 2020, when the company laid off all 88 of its employees, citing the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of early 2024, the company is considered dormant or defunct, with no active operations. In December 2021, Bigelow transferred ownership of the BEAM module to NASA's Johnson Space Center.