Bigelow Aerospace

Type Private
Founded 1999
Founder Robert Bigelow (Founder and President)
Headquarters North Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Industry Aerospace
Products Orbital facilities, commercial space stations
Employees 120 (2006)
Website BigelowAerospace.com

Bigelow Aerospace
is a North Las Vegas, Nevada space technology startup company that is pioneering work on expandable space station modules. It was founded in 1999 by hotelier Robert Bigelow.
An expandable module is a space structure that has a flexible outer shell, allowing conservation of diameter for launch and weight overall. Once in orbit, the module is inflated to allow for greater work, play and living area for astronauts. Expandable modules initially were proposed and designed by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the Transhab program. After cancellation of the Transhab program, Bigelow Aerospace entered into three Space Act agreements whereby Bigelow Aerospace is the sole commercializer of several of NASA's key expandable module technologies.

Background
Bigelow Aerospace was founded by Robert Bigelow and is funded in large part by the fortune Bigelow gained through his ownership of the hotel chain Budget Suites of America. As of 2006, Bigelow had invested US$75 million in the company. Bigelow has stated that he is prepared to fund Bigelow Aerospace with about US$500 million through 2015.

Armadillo Aerospace

Armadillo Aerospace

Type Privately held
Founded 2000
Headquarters Mesquite, Texas
Key people John D. Carmack
Industry Aerospace
Products Rocket vehicles/Space Tourism
Revenue Not disclosed
Website www.armadilloaerospace.com

Aerospace

Is an aerospace startup company based in Mesquite, Texas. Its initial goal is to build a manned suborbital spacecraft capable of space tourism, but it has stated long-term ambitions of orbital spaceflight. The company was founded in the year 2000, and was incorporated on January 1, 2001.

Research and development principles
Armadillo's 'quad' Pixel hovering under rocket power during tethered testing
The company places a strong emphasis on a rapid build and test cycle. Armadillo Aerospace has designed and built a number of different vehicles using a variety of propellants. Each design has several features in common. One is the use of modern computer technologies and electronics to simplify rocket control and reduce development costs. Another is the use of liquid propellants and VTOL to facilitate short launch-to-launch times.

X-Prize competition
The company was a competitor for the Ansari X-Prize. Armadillo's X-Prize vehicle was unorthodox among modern rockets in that instead of using stabilization fins, which complicate the design and increase drag, Armadillo used an aerodynamically unstable design, where the computer controlled jet vanes based on feedback from fibre optic gyroscopes. Armadillo has also stated a preference for simplicity and reliability over performance, which was evident in its choice of hydrogen peroxide (50% concentration in water) and methanol as a mixed monopropellant for the vehicle. A monopropellant-based engine requires only a single tank, as well as greatly simplified plumbing and other hardware. Since the completion of the X-Prize, however, they have opted to switch to liquid oxygen because of difficulties with peroxide catalysts and the lack of availability of high-concentration peroxide in the United States for small companies.
In June 2004, Armadillo successfully demonstrated a computer-controlled Vertical Take-Off and Landing, (VTOL) flight of its prototype vehicle, becoming the third unmanned rocket in history to have done so, after the McDonnell Douglas DC-X and Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) Reusable Vehicle Test (RVT).