The launch
of a second private space station prototype has been delayed until late next
month to allow additional tests of its Dnepr booster rocket.
Genesis 2,
an inflatable module built by the Las Vegas, Nevada-based firm Bigelow Aerospace,
will fly four weeks later than planned due to the extra checks, said Robert
Bigelow, the firm's founder, in a statement released Thursday. The module was
previously targeted for a late May launch from Russia's Yasny Launch Base in
Siberia.
"We
now expect the launch of Genesis 2 to occur in late June," Bigelow wrote.
Genesis 2,
which follows the successful 2006 launch of Bigelow
Aerospace's Genesis 1 spacecraft, is an inflatable module laden with 22 cameras,
a "Space Bingo" game, personal items launched for paying customers. It is the
second Bigelow Aerospace Pathfinder Mission aimed at testing technology that
could one day lead to privately built space stations in Earth orbit.
"The path
to space has never been and will never be simple of easy," Bigelow said in his
statement.
The liftoff
of Genesis 2 has encountered a series of delays, the latest of which can be
traced back to the July 2006
failure of a Dnepr rocket that prompting the booster's joint Russian-Ukrainian
launch provider ISC Kosmotras to postpone space shots until a successful
April 17 launch.
"[W]e
experienced similar delays on the Genesis 1 campaign and, of course, were quite
pleased with the end result," Bigelow stated. "Moreover, since Genesis 2
contains a variety of important mementos, photos and other personal items as
part of our 'Fly Your Stuff' program, both Kosmotras and Bigelow Aerospace are
proceeding with great caution in order to safely and successfully deliver the
spacecraft to orbit."
Like Genesis
1, Genesis 2 is powered by a series of solar panels designed to deploy in Earth
orbit. The new spacecraft is identical in size to its predecessor and is about
15 feet (4.4 meters) long. Its diameter is designed to expand from an initial
6.2 feet (1.9 meters) to about eight feet (2.54 meters) when fully inflated.
The module
is a one-third scale version of future manned orbital modules planned for
launch by Bigelow Aerospace, the firm has said.
Bigelow
Aerospace officials plan to launch a new inflatable module, dubbed Galaxy, in 2008.
The human-habitable
Sundancer vehicle could follow in 2010 as a predecessor to the larger BA
330 module, the Las Vegas-based firm has said.
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