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Testing Inflatable Space Modules

Bigelow Aerospace, an entrepreneurial company based in Nevada, has taken steps toward providing potential in-space accommodations with the successful launch and operation of two expandable modules: Genesis I and Genesis II.

The Fifth Space Tourist

While communications satellites have long been used to help travelers arrange accommodations on Earth, commercial companies are developing an ability to provide accommodations in space. On April 7, 2007, software developer Charles Simonyi, the fifth orbital “private space explorer,” launched into space for a nearly two week stay aboard the International Space Station.

Cellphone Roaming in the Middle of the Ocean

In 2007, SeaMobile Enterprises, a provider of maritime voice, data, and Internet connectivity, announced a move into content delivery through a subsidiary, Wave Entertainment Network. Content comes to the ship live via SeaMobile’s Maritime Telecommunications Network, which can be cached onboard and shown in a “normal” time slot within the guest shipboard schedule.

Improved Communications While Cruising

A number of new satellite applications help cruise ships provide greater connectivity to their guests. Satellite communications have always been important to connectivity on cruise ships but the diversity of communications options to which guests have become accustomed is driving a number of innovations.

2007 – Russia Launch, Human

The Clipper (Kliper) vehicle, under design by Russia’s Energia, has not yet found a customer. Clipper may become a follow-on to the Soyuz vehicle, and has attracted interest from the European Space Agency (ESA) for ISS access. In 2006, Anatoly Perminov, the director of Russia’s Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), said the agency planned to start construction of the vehicle in 2012.

2007 – U.S. Launch, Human

NASA announced SpaceX and Rocketplane Kistler as the winners of the COTS competition in August 2006. The goal of the competition is to develop commercial delivery services for the International Space Station (ISS), distributing research and development funds to be combined with private capital.

2006 – U.S. Space Workforce

The U.S. space industry draws on the expertise of more than a quarter of a million Americans across the country who directly contribute to the economic health of the national economy, many state economies, and local communities.

2006 – Space Industry Demographics – Snapshot

Although new hiring statistics are not uniformly available for other major civil space programs or international companies, steady growth in the global space industry over the past five years suggests that demand for skilled S&E workers with space-relevant skills exists around the world.

2005 – Space-Themed Tourism

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is recognized as the world’s most visited museum. For 2005, a total of ## people visited the museum building on the Mall, which on average attracts more than ## million people annually, and ## visited the affiliated Udvar-Hazy Center.

2005 – Benefits of Technology Transfer

Space technologies can also be used by manufacturers to create, modify or improve new and existing components and products which, in turn, provide industry, commercial users and ultimately the general public with a wider choice of robust and reliable goods.