Inflatable habitats or expandable habitats are pressurized

tent A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using g ...

-like structures capable of supporting life in outer space whose internal volume increases after launch. They have frequently been proposed for use in space applications to provide a greater volume of living space for a given mass. The first formal design and manufacture of an inflatable space habitat was in 1961 with a

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 ...

design produced by Goodyear (although this design was never flown). A proposal released in 1989 by Johnson Space Center's Man Systems Division outlined a diameter spherical habitat lunar outpost which was partially buried in the lunar surface. An inflatable module called TransHab (a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of ''Trans Habitation'') was proposed for the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

, and later the private company Bigelow Aerospace revived the design for use in a number of potential civil and commercial applications.

Construction

The construction of an inflatable space habitat is determined by its design objectives. However common elements include interwoven layers of highly durable materials such as

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as ...

and

mylar BoPET (biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical stability, dimensional stability, transparency reflectivity, an ...

around a flexible air bladder which is used to retain an

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

. The shape of the module is maintained by the pressure difference between the internal atmosphere and the outside

vacuum A vacuum (: vacuums or vacua) is space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective (neuter ) meaning "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressur ...

. The inflatable Bigelow Aerospace modules have an internal core which provides structural support during its launch into

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

Ongoing research

Currently the main areas of research are being undertaken by Sierra Space and

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 ...

. NASA is currently studying inflatable lunar bases with the ''planetary surface habitat and airlock unit'' which is in an early prototype phase, and has conceptual proposals for utilizing expandable-technology space structures in cislunar and interplanetary crewed exploration spacecraft.

Bigelow Aerospace development work

From its founding in 1998 until its closing in 2020, Bigelow Aerospace performed pioneering research and development work in coordination with NASA on inflatable space habitats. In 2021 Sierra Space was founded, which continued the development of inflatable space habitats in partnership with NASA.

Bigelow- Expandable Activity Module

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) was an experimental expandable space station module developed by the now defunct Bigelow Aerospace, under contract to NASA, for testing as a temporary module on the

(ISS) from 2016 to at least 2020. It arrived at the ISS on April 10, 2016, was berthed to the station on April 16, and was expanded and pressurized on May 28, 2016.

Bigelow- Commercial Space Station

The Bigelow Next-Generation Commercial Space Station, composed of two types of expandable space habitat modules, was announced in mid-2010.Bigelow Aerospace — Next-Generation Commercial Space Stations: Orbital Complex Construction
, Bigelow Aerospace, accessed 2010-07-15. The initial build-out of the station was announced for 2014/2015, and would have consisted of two

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 ...

modules and one B330 module.Bigelow Marketing Inflatable Space Stations
''

Aviation Week ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', often abbreviated ''Aviation Week'' or ''AW&ST'', is the flagship magazine of the Aviation Week Network, a division of Informa. The weekly magazine is available in print and online, reporting on the aeros ...

'', 2010-05-06, accessed 2010-10-30. Bigelow has publicly shown space station design configurations with up to nine B330 modules containing of habitable spaceBigelow Aerospace Shows Off Bigger, Badder Space Real Estate
''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...

'', 2010-10-28, accessed 2010-10-30. In 2011 the B330 was in final design with construction getting underway. Bigelow began to publicly refer to the initial configuration—two

modules and one B330 module—as "Space Complex Alpha" in October 2010.Bigelow still thinks big
'' The Space Review'', 2010-11-01, accessed 2010-11-02. In March 2020, Bigelow laid off all 88 of its employees. the company remains dormant and is currently considered defunct. In April 2021 Sierra Space was founded, which continued to develop inflatable space habitats as its predecessor Bigelow Aerospace had done previously.

NASA Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle

In early 2011, NASA put forward a conceptual proposal for a long-duration crewed space transport vehicle which includes an artificial gravity

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 ...

intended to promote crew-health for a crew of up to six persons on missions of up to two years duration. Called the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV), the partial-G torus-ring

centrifuge A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to subject a specimen to a specified constant force - for example, to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby ...

would utilize both standard metal-frame and inflatable spacecraft structures and would provide 0.11 to 0.69 G ().NAUTILUS - X: Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle
, Mark L. Holderman, ''Future in Space Operations (FISO) Colloquium'', 2011-01-26, accessed 2011-01-31.NASA NAUTILUS-X: multi-mission exploration vehicle includes centrifuge, which would be tested at ISS
, ''RLV and Space Transport News'', 2011-01-28, accessed 2011-01-31. Related to MMSEV is the ISS Centrifuge Demo, proposed in 2011 as a demonstration project preparatory to the final design of the larger torus centrifuge space habitat for the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle. The structure would have an outside diameter of with a ring interior cross-section diameter and would provide 0.08 to 0.51 G (). This test and evaluation centrifuge would have the capability to become a ''sleep module'' for ISS crew.

Sierra Space- LIFE Habitat

LIFE (Large Integrated Flexible Environment or Large Inflatable Fabric Environment) is an inflatable space habitat currently being developed by Sierra Space. The proposed

Orbital Reef Orbital Reef is a low Earth orbit (LEO) space station under development. It is designed by Blue Origin and Sierra Space for Commercial astronaut, commercial space activities and space tourism uses. Blue Origin has referred to it as a "mixed-us ...

commercial space station includes multiple LIFE habitats in its design.

Lunar Surface Habitat

Lunar Surface Habitat is an inflatable habitat proposed by

for

Artemis program The Artemis program is a Exploration of the Moon, Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), formally established in 2017 via Space Policy Directive 1. The program's stated long-ter ...

Lockheed Martin inflatable habitat

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

is developing an inflatable habitat, the first intended use of which was the main module of the

Starlab Starlab NV/SA was a multidisciplinary, blue sky research institute established to serve as an incubator for long-term and basic research in the spirit of Bell Labs, MIT Media Lab, Xerox PARC, and Interval Research. Its primary headquarters was ...

space station. However, this module was cancelled and replaced by a rigid module developed by Airbus.

Max Space inflatable habitat

Max Space, a startup, is developing an inflatable habitat.

Chinese module

China is developing an inflatable module. A small module was launched with

Shijian Shijian (, Abbreviation, abbr. "SJ") is a series of satellites built and operated by the China, People's Republic of China. Some Shijian-series satellites have drawn significant concerns from the United States government and space observers who ...

19 on 27 September 2024.

Advantages

* All other factors being equal, the

aerodynamic Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

load any vehicle is subjected to as it travels through an atmosphere increases with the square of its diameter. Therefore, a launch vehicle's diameter must be kept to a minimum to ensure a reasonably safe and fuel-efficient ascent through the lower atmosphere. In contrast, a vehicle designed to travel in a vacuum can be engineered without regard for aerodynamics. Because the diameter of the habitat is not strictly constrained by the diameter of the launch (and, if desired, re-entry) vehicle(s), inflatables can have a greater volume of living space for a given mass. * Some designs offer higher resistance to

space debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, space garbage, or cosmic debris) are defunct human-made objects in spaceprincipally in Earth orbitwhich no longer serve a useful function. These include dere ...

. For example, the B330 provides ballistic protection superior to traditional aluminum shell designs.Bigelow Aerospace — Next-Generation Commercial Space Stations: BA 330
, Bigelow Aerospace, 2010, accessed 11 Jan 2011. * Some designs provide higher levels of shielding against radiation. For example, the B330 provides

radiation protection Radiation protection, also known as radiological protection, is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The protection of people from harmful effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, and the means for achieving this". Exposu ...

equivalent to or better than the

, "and substantially reduces the dangerous impact of secondary radiation."

Flight experience

The 1965

Voskhod 2 Voskhod 2 () was a Soviet crewed space mission in March 1965. The Vostok-based Voskhod 3KD spacecraft with two crew members on board, Pavel Belyayev and Alexei Leonov, was equipped with an inflatable airlock. It established another milestone ...

mission employed an inflatable airlock for the first ever EVA. As of 2019, the only designs that have flown in space have been the ''

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'', and

Bigelow Expandable Activity Module The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an experimental inflatable space habitat, expandable International Space Station#Pressurised modules, space station module developed by Bigelow Aerospace, under contract to NASA, for testing as a ...

from Bigelow Aerospace.

References

External links

NASA lunar colony idea

Inflatable lunar habitat study
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210144407/http://nss.org/settlement/moon/library/LB2-303-InflatableHabitation.pdf , date=2016-12-10

Space stations Human habitats Space habibat