Boeing's Space Capsule Undergoes First Drop Test

I wonder if the top row costs extra. If I was in there with a bunch of space tourists blasting up on a rocket instead of trained astronauts, it might be worth it not to be in the "danger zone."

From an outsiders perspective, I've always thought it a damn shame that Bigelow Aerospace doesn't have the cash or business alliance that would allow him to get something lasting up on orbit. He has had his habs for years now, waiting to go. He's never had much overt support from NASA, who apparently just looked at him as if he were unworthy of their services and support. I guess it's just an extension of the damn shame that our public doesn't have ANYTHING to say about who's programs get help in getting up and running. We just get to sit and watch as people put real effort and wealth into a space program for DECADES and then get closed out by the industry and by what is supposed to be OUR space program. I guess Bigelow has never come across with the required graft, eh?

When Bigelow had already designed and built every hab he has except the last one; neither Jeff Bezos, in the form of SpaceX, nor Richard Branson as Virgin... even existed. But no support for Bigelow, eh NASA?

Tom Billings

Bigelow has always said he needs at least two viable ways for getting his customers to any habitat he puts into Space, before he will spend the money to put them there. It is *not* a question of him not having the money to do it. He understands all too well what happens to a property whose customers cannot reach it from a single point failure in the transportation of its customers. He made his billions in motels and apartments, after all.

The delays in getting the Commercial Crew program moving have been what delayed Bigelow more than anything else. Thank the congressional delegations trying to strangle commercial crew for the delays, in favor of pumping money into the MPCV and the SLS pork monsters.

@ TomBillings ; Hi. I was over on the Bigelow Aerospace site and one of the things he says on there is that he's well over 180 million in now, and expects to be up and running at the point of another 320 mil. Or not, but that's his current risk level on the table. He has always tried to work with numbers he can manage efficiently on a project by project basis, but now he's expanding his manufacturing capability. Overall growth pretty much guaranteed provided he can make a good set of deals on his mass and personnel lifters.