Bigelow Aerospace Update Thread (2)

[Prober]

http://www.lvrj.com/business/nasa-contracts-benefit-north-las-vegas-outfit-164988796.html

Covers Bigelow, SpaceX, SNC

[dcporter]

Glad to hear Bigelow is hiring again.

[SpacexULA]

This has to be mind blowingly good news for Bigelow, they just had NASA invest $900 Million dollars with two of their major industrial partners to flesh out what they have always claimed was their long pole issues.

I was somewhat surprised not to see a congratulatory memo come out quickly after the award; I can only assume it's in the works.

I hate that 2016 is their goal date and that they are ramping up employment so slowly, but the real world does not always match fan boy dreams. :/

[manboy]

http://www.lvrj.com/business/nasa-contracts-benefit-north-las-vegas-outfit-164988796.html

Covers Bigelow, SpaceX, SNC

"It slashed its work force from 150 before the recession to 50 during the downturn; now, it's looking to jump back up to 90 workers by Christmas. It's hiring structural, mechanical and electrical engineers, as well as chemists, molecular biologists and workers who craft composite spacecraft parts."

This is good news, although I would like to hear OD's opinion/fact checking on it.

[krytek]

What does Bigelow Aerospace need molecular biologists for?

[mmeijeri]

What does Bigelow Aerospace need molecular biologists for?

To help sell leases of their projected zero-g facilities to the biochemical / pharmaceutical industry?

[JBF]

What does Bigelow Aerospace need molecular biologists for?

To help sell leases of their projected zero-g facilities to the biochemical / pharmaceutical industry?

I bet it's more basic, help figure out what equipment to fly.

[Orbital Debris]

http://www.lvrj.com/business/nasa-contracts-benefit-north-las-vegas-outfit-164988796.html

Covers Bigelow, SpaceX, SNC

"It slashed its work force from 150 before the recession to 50 during the downturn; now, it's looking to jump back up to 90 workers by Christmas. It's hiring structural, mechanical and electrical engineers, as well as chemists, molecular biologists and workers who craft composite spacecraft parts."

This is good news, although I would like to hear OD's opinion/fact checking on it.

Well, the 150 is way off, but to be fair 115 was the most that ever worked there and maybe RTB was misquoted.  At the time of the layoff there were about 85-90 people working at the site.  Staffing back up to 90 would correspond to so that they wouldn't have to buy more computers, desks, etc. 

Indications are that they are serious about staffing up, but I'm skeptical of their ability to staff quickly with qualified folks.  They have only one overworked admin fulfilling the HR role.  Even during active hiring phases in the past, they were hard put to hire more than a couple people a month.

They currently have about 35 people actively working on spacecraft development, the other 15 or so are security and admin personnel.  So they would essentially be doubling their design staff.  Difficult to do while maintaining focus.

[Orbital Debris]

What does Bigelow Aerospace need molecular biologists for?

A simpler explanation is best, they need ECLSS personnel. The molecular biologist title is overkill, (once they posted for 'specialist in biological cognitive interaction') along with the chemist mentioned.  They only have the ECLSS manager left from the layoffs.  They created an ECLSS test chamber, and it is one of the things RTB is interested in pursuing immediately.

The other positions make sense, but I have not seen any additional requisitions posted beyond the 13 that were on their website prior to the announcement.  The requisitions will provide insight to their focus as they post.

[Ronsmytheiii]

A simpler explanation is best, they need ECLSS personnel. The molecular biologist title is overkill, (once they posted for 'specialist in biological cognitive interaction') along with the chemist mentioned.  They only have the ECLSS manager left from the layoffs.  They created an ECLSS test chamber, and it is one of the things RTB is interested in pursuing immediately.

Just out of curiosity, why not team up with Paragon, or is their ECLSS system just too far out of the Bigelow requirements?

[Orbital Debris]

A simpler explanation is best, they need ECLSS personnel. The molecular biologist title is overkill, (once they posted for 'specialist in biological cognitive interaction') along with the chemist mentioned.  They only have the ECLSS manager left from the layoffs.  They created an ECLSS test chamber, and it is one of the things RTB is interested in pursuing immediately.

Just out of curiosity, why not team up with Paragon, or is their ECLSS system just too far out of the Bigelow requirements?

http://www.orbitec.com/documents/ORBITEC_Bigelow_PressRelease_21Jan2010.pdf
BA has already purchased some hardware from Orbitec.  I don't believe any of it was beyond proof of concept, so Bigelow has a lot of work to do integrating and maturing the systems.  They have built an ECLSS chamber, and further testing is a high priority.  Testing was performed at Orbitec (further press releases on that floating around the web) but that was dubious with respect to a closed loop life support system.
From what I understand, the Paragon system developed under CCDev was only air revitalization in a capsule and I don't know if was scalable.  Paragon has experience with other ECLSS systems, and may have pitched them to Bigelow.  Bigelow has used Paragon valves in the past for Genesis. The Paragon valves performed well on Genesis 1.  There is a history there, and in a public forum I can't really go into why they would not be using Paragon.

[dcporter]

There is a history there, and in a public forum I can't really go into why they would not be using Paragon.

I wish we had a restricted forum somewhere

[baldusi]

There is a history there, and in a public forum I can't really go into why they would not be using Paragon.

I wish we had a restricted forum somewhere

L2?

[robertross]

There is a history there, and in a public forum I can't really go into why they would not be using Paragon.

I wish we had a restricted forum somewhere

Probably already saying too much

[ChefPat]

NASA contracts benefit North Las Vegas outfit
The private space race is affecting a small Las Vegas company.

NASA on Friday announced that it will give three aerospace companies more than $1.1 billion to build small spacecraft to take astronauts to the International Space Station. Two of those businesses - Boeing Co. of Houston and Space Exploration Technologies of California - have partnered with North Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace on orbit-related projects.

Robert Bigelow, owner and president of Bigelow Aerospace, called the funding "more aggressive" than prior NASA contracts and said he was "very happy" about the ramped-up investment, which will nearly double the workforce at his North Las Vegas plant.

Bigelow Aerospace began working with Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, in May to promote business and research space travel to governments and businesses that would use SpaceX's Dragon reusable spacecraft launched atop its Falcon rocket to reach Bigelow's orbiting BA 330 space habitat.

Bigelow Aerospace has also launched two of its Genesis satellites into orbit using Russian rockets. It's working with Boeing to develop a spacecraft to ferry crews to the International Space Station and, eventually, to Bigelow space stations. In May, the two companies conducted parachute drop tests of the spacecraft at the Delamar Dry Lake Bed near Alamo.

Bigelow Aerospace won't directly see any of the NASA funds, except "a very small fraction" as a Boeing testing and fabrication contractor. But the money will allow Boeing and SpaceX to perfect a way to get to Bigelow's space habitat, where governments and corporations could conduct space research and training if they fail to land a coveted seat on the six-person International Space Station.

Bigelow said NASA is to distribute additional funds from 2013 to 2015. Combine the possibility of sustained federal contracts for Bigelow Aerospace's partners with an increasing interest in space exploration among other nations and businesses, and Bigelow sees the need for new investments. The company just opened a 185,000-square-foot addition, bringing its North Las Vegas plant up to about 350,000 square feet. It slashed its work force from 150 before the recession to 50 during the downturn; now, it's looking to jump back up to 90 workers by Christmas. It's hiring structural, mechanical and electrical engineers, as well as chemists, molecular biologists and workers who craft composite spacecraft parts.

Bigelow said he has marked 2016 as a year when spacecraft availability will meet growing customer demand, and things really take off for the business.

"This is an embryonic situation where we've been in research-and-development mode for the last decade," Bigelow said. "As with anything you're trying to create from scratch, it takes a while to finally get to a point where you have something that's marketable. We are starting to approach that point in our little company."

Bigelow said the company has ambitions beyond low-Earth orbit: He's looking at getting involved in travel to the moon and even to Mars.

This is the third phase of NASA's efforts to get private space companies to take over the job of the now-retired space shuttle. Once the spaceships are built, NASA plans to hire the private companies to taxi astronauts into space within five years. Until they are ready, NASA is paying Russia to do the job

In addition to Boeing and SpaceX, NASA gave funding to SpaceDev, Inc., a Colorado-based wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks.

[jabe]

i hope Bigelow is ready when Spacex et al are ready to service other markets..more the merrier..Hate for them to be delayed after the slow downs they have done
jb

[Orbital Debris]

In further news, a couple of personnel departures recently.  For those that are interested in their job postings, they should be looking to fill the electrical engineer requisition. 

Also noticed they are sekking (sic) - take a look at the recent posting, a machine shop supervisor.

[Nathan]

Does bigelow have a fly able prototype available? Has it tested the ba330 in a vacuum chamber?

[Jason1701]

Does bigelow have a fly able prototype available? Has it tested the ba330 in a vacuum chamber?

No and no, as far as has been released to the public, and implied by OD.

[Danderman]

Since this is a long thread, it would be great to get a brief summary of the current status at Bigelow of major subsystem development, such as propulsion bus, power generation and ECLSS.

Yeah, I know that Bigelow is real good at structures, but customers need function, too.