Bigelow to lease space habitats to clients in seven nations

February 7, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

Space habitat (Image: Bigelow Aerospace)

Bigelow Aerospace has announced plans to lease space aboard its inflatable space habitats to seven clients in The Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, Singapore, Australia, United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirate of Dubai, according to Aviation Week.

At the meeting in Cape Canaveral on Wednesday, Bigelow Aerospace founder Robert Bigelow stated that one of the main types of customers that his company is looking at is smaller nations that cannot afford their own space program and would like to send payloads into orbit. according to Universe Today.

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.

“Thank god we finally have an entrepreneur in space. A man who knows how to market empty space as what it is, the world’s most promising real estate,” said author Howard Bloom, founder of the Space Development Steering Committee.