Bigelow Commercial Space Station

[7] In short, CSS Skywalker was "an effort to build the planet's first orbiting space hotel, [with a projected] room rate of USD$1 million per night", and a hoped-for launch date for the first Nautilus module of 2010.

[3] Early assessments of the probability of success of the technology development and challenges of a commercial space station pointed to the importance of factors largely beyond Bigelow's control.

For example, in 2005, John M. Logsdon, director of George Washington University's Space Policy Institute, said, "I have little doubt that the basic technology is likely to work ...

First, after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, Bigelow had to compete with NASA for rides on the Russian Soyuz three-person rocket — "a distinctly untenable position.

[12] "Bigelow offers Boeing, SpaceX, and other vehicle developers ... the promise of a sustained, large market for space transportation services.

"[4] With the initial Space Complex Alpha, Bigelow "would need six flights a year; with the launch of a second, larger station, that number would grow to 24, or two a month.

[13][14][15] In 2014, plans called for transport of humans and resupply cargo to the station to be via a SpaceX Dragon V2, with a round-trip seat priced at US$26.5 million.

[6] In October 2010, Bigelow announced that it has memorandum of understanding with six sovereign nations to utilize the on-orbit facilities of the commercial space station: United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, Japan and Sweden.

[18] A seventh country signed on in February 2011: the United Arab Emirates[19] In August 2015, Michael Gold stated that the timetable for the first B330 deployment is uncertain at the moment since it is tied to the development of private astronaut taxis that can get people to orbit.

In 2010, Bigelow Aerospace began building a large production facility in North Las Vegas, Nevada to produce the space modules.

[24] In October 2011, Reuters reported that Bigelow had "pared its 115-member workforce to 51 [...] because of delays developing space taxis needed to fly people to the outposts.

"[25] As of 2010[update] On-orbit assembly of the Bigelow Next-Generation Commercial Space Station components was projected to begin in 2014.

During its flight mission, NASA has been testing and monitoring the module's structural integrity, leak rate, radiation dosage and temperature changes.

As of August 2011[update], press reports indicate that Bigelow will launch at least some of their crews to the station on the human-rated Atlas V utilizing the Boeing CST-100 seven-person space capsule.

[35] In late 2010, Bigelow indicated that the company would like to construct ten or more space stations and that there is a substantial commercial market to support such growth.