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DanS
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Kickball Capital of the World
Jan 1970
time: 00:24
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Budget Suites? those are pretty dumpy. Mostly weekly monthly rentals for the poor. |
That was my impression as well, although more "functional" rather than "dumpy." By no means luxurious.
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I doubt he's putting these modules together here (we just don't have the room). |
It doesn't take too much room to build the number of modules that he is building (only a handful at this time), but Bigelow has plenty of room to expand. He's got 30 acres in North Las Vegas -- at Cheyenne & Clayton, off of I-15 near the North Las Vegas airport. Only about 60 people work there.
He also opened an office in Houston, presumably to take advantage of some of the space workforce available there.
Last evening, Slashdot posted an article on this...
http://science.slashdot.org/article...tid=160&tid=126
Last edited by DanS on 17-02-2005 at 22:41
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child of Thor
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It didnt say in the article, but i guess there could be some russian buisness involvement? Maybe he just plans to buy a couple of cheap craft from the russians(he is very good at managing bugets apparently)?
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DanS
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Kickball Capital of the World
Jan 1970
time: 00:24
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Are the Russians involved in this? Seriously, on those last two pics it looks as if there are Soyuz (sp?) ships docked on the station... |
As far as I know, the Russians are involved only in launching up to 6 prototypes within the next 5 years. Maybe he has a couple of Russian emigres on the payroll. But I don't think he would be averse to buying rides on Soyuz, if the price is right and the Russians try to minimize his hassle. Businesses try to diversify their suppliers while governments tend to minimize their suppliers. SpaceX of California is also aiming to have a manned rocket launch program by the time Bigelow goes live on the Nautilus station. Bigelow is encouraging them as well.
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What can they claim is theirs? I know in this case he's looking at an orbital hotel, but for others that might want to try mineral extraction etc, how can they ensure they get the goods and not the governments for example?
Is there space in space for corporate expansion or will national issues always get in the way(and proveing who's national interests they are is another bag of worms?), thus stopping the potential investment by private companies and individuals? |
We don't know. The US government regulates these spacecraft (indeed, home governments are obligated under international treaty to regulate these spacecraft). Further, technology trade issues are sometimes brought up when exporting these spacecraft for launch. You might be precluded from doing so, in some circumstances and depending on the type of spacecraft.
But currently, the US government focuses on rocket launch more than orbital hotels or solar sails. Presumably, they are more worried with regulating rockets that could be refitted with warheads than with inflatable stations that are not seen as potential military articles. I don't think the US government would give you too much hassle with regard to your mining operations, so long as you have some place to put your trash and have reasonable safeguards for the uninvolved public. If you mine it, you own it. First come, first serve. Bigelow already has authorization to launch his stations from the US Government on either American or Russian rockets.
Because of the first come, first serve nature of space law, it might be tricky to trade in space among companies of different nationalities. You might have a hodgepodge of companies from different countries operating on the moon right next to each other, and they would want to trade with one another. There isn't any customs service on the moon yet.
I should note that communications satellites are a special class of spacecraft and are more heavily regulated.
Last edited by DanS on 18-02-2005 at 01:58
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16-02-2005 09:02
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