Bigelow Aerospace is a North Las Vegas, Nevada space technology startup company that is pioneering work on expandable space station modules. Bigelow Aerospace was founded by Robert Bigelow in 1998 and is funded in large part by the fortune Bigelow gained through his ownership of the hotel chain Budget Suites of America. By 2010, Bigelow had invested US$180 million in the company. Bigelow has stated on multiple occasions that he is prepared to fund Bigelow Aerospace with about US$500 million through 2015 in order to achieve launch of full-scale hardware. Bigelow is pioneering a new market in a flexible and configurable set of space habitats. Moreover, industry observers have noted that Bigelow is demonstrating audacity to pioneer such a market "in a capital-intensive, highly-regulated industry like spaceflight."
Read more about Bigelow Aerospace: History, Module Design and Business Plans, Module Construction and Deployment Timeline, Bigelow Commercial Space Station, Crew and Passenger Transport, Aspirations Beyond Earth-orbit, Honors