Genesis II - Spacecraft History

Spacecraft History

Genesis II was launched on 28 June 2007, at 15:02 UTC. As with Genesis I, it was launched aboard an ISC Kosmotras Dnepr rocket from Dombarovskiy missile base near Yasniy, Russia. It successfully reached orbit after separation from the rocket at 15:16 UTC. Due to the mechanics of its orbit, first contact with the craft was established once it passed over SpaceQuest, Ltd.'s Fairfax, Virginia receiving station at 22:20 UTC, confirming that it was alive and functioning nominally with power and air pressure at expected levels. Externally, Genesis II is identical in size to Genesis I; as such, it is a one-third scale of the full-size BA 330 model, with on-orbit measurements of 4.4 metres (14.4 ft) in length and 2.54 metres (8.3 ft) in diameter, with an interior habitable volume of 11.5 cubic metres (406.1 cu ft). As part of its inflatable design, Genesis II launched with a diameter of 1.6 metres (5.2 ft), expanding to its full size after entering orbit. Within two days of launch, attitude control systems had damped all rotation and oriented antennae toward Earth.

Similar to the process endured by Bigelow for Genesis I, transporting Genesis II to Russia for launch was the end result of nearly a year of regulatory processes due to restrictions imposed by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and other procedures, both in the United States and abroad. After leaving North Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States, the spacecraft made a stopover in Luxembourg before being flown on an Antonov An-124 to Orsk, Russia, and transported over ground to the Dombarovskiy base. Genesis II made its final move into the Assembly, Integration and Test Building on March 29, 2007.

Originally slated for an 6 August 2006, launch, ISC Kosmotras delayed the launch to 30 January 2007, due to the failure of a Dnepr rocket in July 2006. The launch was delayed an additional four times (1 April, 19 April, 26 April, and 23 May) due to technical and scheduling concerns before its eventual launch on 28 June.

On 12 December 2007, Bigelow Aerospace provided an update indicating that Genesis II was in good health. All cameras had been tested and more than 4,000 photographs had been taken. The craft was in a nearly circular orbit with an eccentricity of 0.028, and had only lost 5 kilometres (3 mi) from launch to that time. Attitude control systems and all eight solar arrays were operational, and no damage to the outer surface of the craft has been observed. Internal pressure was noted as holding between 69.6 and 72.4 kilopascals (10.1 and 10.5 psi), with the variation caused by Genesis II moving in and out of sunlight during its orbit.

On 23 April 2009, Bigelow Aerospace announced that Genesis II had surpassed the 10,000 orbit mark, having been in space for 665 days and travelling over 270 million miles (430 million kilometers).

In February 2011, Bigelow reported that the vehicle had "performed flawlessly in terms of pressure maintenance and thermal control-environmental containment." Although the design life of the spacecraft avionics was only six months, the avionics systems worked flawlessly for "over two and a half years" before failure. The data received after the first six months was a re-verification of the validation test suite that was accomplished during the design life period.

The orbital life is estimated to be 12 years, with a gradually decaying orbit resulting in re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and burn-up expected. As of February 2012, the vehicle remains in orbit.