''Galaxy'' (previously ''Guardian'') was a canceled prototype

space habitat A space settlement (also called a space habitat, spacestead, space city or space colony) is a Human settlement, settlement in outer space, sustaining more extensively Space habitat (facility), habitation facilities in space than a general space ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

firm

Bigelow Aerospace Bigelow Aerospace was an American space design and manufacturing company which ceased operations in 2020. It was an aeronautics and outer space technology company which manufactured and developed expandable space station modules. Bigelow Aero ...

, and was intended to be the third spacecraft launched by the company in their efforts to create a commercial

space station A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...

. Like other modules made by Bigelow Aerospace, ''Galaxy'' was based on the inflatable

TransHab TransHab was a program pursued by NASA in the late 1990s to develop the technology for expandable habitats inflated by air in space. TransHab was intended as a replacement for the existing rigid International Space Station crew Habitation Modul ...

design by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

, and was to be used for advanced systems testing before the company launched

human-rated Human-rating certification, also known as man-rating or crew-rating, is the certification of a spacecraft or launch vehicle as capable of safely transporting humans. There is no one particular standard for human-rating a spacecraft or launch veh ...

vehicles.

Spacecraft history

''Galaxy'' started life as twin spacecraft named ''Guardian'' which would have acted as 45% scale intermediates between the one-third size ''

Genesis I ''Genesis I'' is an experimental space habitat designed and built by the private American firm Bigelow Aerospace and launched in 2006. It was the first module to be sent into orbit by the company, and tested various systems, materials and tec ...

'' & '' Genesis II'' pathfinders and the full size ''

BA 330 The B330 (previously known as the Nautilus space complex module and BA 330) was an inflatable space habitat privately developed by Bigelow Aerospace from 2010 until 2020. The design was evolved from NASA's TransHab habitat concept. B330 was t ...

'' man-rated module. Sometime after 2004, the two ''Guardian'' flights were split into the ''Galaxy'' module and larger ''

Sundancer ''Sundancer'' was the proposed third prototype space habitat intended to be launched by Bigelow Aerospace—and the first human-rated expandable module based on TransHab technology acquired from NASA. It was to have been used to test and confir ...

'' module, each testing progressively advanced systems. This ''Galaxy'' had twice the interior volume of the ''Genesis'' craft: . In 2007, the parameters for ''Galaxy'' were again modified, with final specifications being for a spacecraft in length, in diameter and with of interior volume—45% greater than the ''Genesis'' modules. It was intended for launch in late 2008. In August 2007, however, Bigelow Aerospace announced that due to rising launch costs (stated as three times more expensive than for previous launches) and the successful ''Genesis'' missions, the ''Galaxy'' spacecraft would not be launched. Instead, many of the module's systems—possibly the entire craft—would be constructed and ground tested, allowing Bigelow employees to gain further experience and potentially advance ''Sundancer'''s schedule.

Systems

A number of advanced and experimental systems were to be flight tested aboard ''Galaxy''. Among the most notable upgrades were improved

avionics Avionics (a portmanteau of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the ...

and

attitude control Spacecraft attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of a spacecraft (vehicle or satellite) with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, ...

systems, a more damage-resistant interior air barrier and expanded communications bandwidth capabilities. Also on the manifest were larger, more efficient, articulated

solar arrays A photovoltaic system, also called a PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to abs ...

and supporting battery systems, and flight qualifications would be performed on elements of the

Environmental Control and Life Support System Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

(ECLSS). ''Galaxy'' would have included more efficient structural components, lending to easier upscaling to larger spacecraft, and was to carry a view port and access hatch, though no docking port would be included on this flight.

References

{{Space stations Bigelow Aerospace Cancelled space stations Cancelled American spacecraft

Spacecraft history

Systems

See also

References