Boeing, Lockheed to launch habitats for space tourists and researchers

Bigelow Aerospace’s expandable space habitat just arrived at the International Space Station, but the company is already thinking about the next steps: flying even larger inflatable habitats into space to be used for research and even space hotels. The company announced at a conference here Monday that starting in 2020 the United Launch Alliance, the joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, would deliver the habitats to space, where they would orbit the Earth more than a couple hundred miles high. The deal was heralded as a significant step toward commercializing space and creating a viable self-sustaining economy where businesses could thrive without being propped up by government. More

(Source: Washington Post - Apr 12)