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Robert Bigelow—the billionaire owner of Hotel Budget Suites of America—is setting his sights on a brand-new market as hotels on earth head for a cooldown—extraterrestrial real estate.
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, will be packed with the next SpaceX rocket launched to the International Space Station. BEAM is an inflatable, cocoon-like living space, and it will be the first of its kind to be occupied by humans in space, Fortune reports.
The 6-by-8 BEAM will expand to more than 500 cubic feet—about the size of a small bedroom—and be attached to the outside of the space station, where it will be monitored over two years to see if it holds up to the demanding space environment.
But Bigelow is already thinking bigger—his engineers have other inflatable-space habitats undergoing development, including space hotels and moon bases. [Fortune]
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