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Bigelow Expandable Activity Module
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an experimental expandable space station module developed by Bigelow Aerospace under contract with NASA. It was designed for testing as a temporary module on the International Space Station (ISS) beginning in 2016. BEAM arrived at the ISS on April 10, 2016, was berthed to the station on April 16, and was expanded and pressurized on May 28. Originally planned as a two-year test, the module has exceeded expectations and as of 2025, remains in use for additional cargo storage. Following Bigelow Aerospace's suspension of business operations in 2020, ownership of BEAM transferred to NASA.
NASA originally considered the idea of inflatable habitats in the 1960s, and developed the TransHab inflatable module concept in the late 1990s. The TransHab project was canceled by Congress in 2000, and Bigelow Aerospace purchased the rights to the patents developed by NASA to pursue private space station designs. In 2006 and 2007, Bigelow launched two demonstration modules to Earth orbit, Genesis I and Genesis II.
NASA re-initiated analysis of expandable module technology for a variety of potential missions beginning in early 2010. Various options were considered, including procurement from commercial provider Bigelow Aerospace, for providing what in 2010 was proposed to be a torus-shaped storage module for the International Space Station. One application of the toroidal BEAM design was as a centrifuge demo preceding further developments of the NASA Nautilus-X multi-mission exploration concept vehicle. In January 2011, Bigelow projected that the BEAM module could be built and made flight-ready 24 months after a build contract was secured.
On December 20, 2012, NASA awarded Bigelow Aerospace a US$17.8 million contract to construct the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) under NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Program. Sierra Nevada Corporation built the US$2 million Common Berthing Mechanism under a 16-month firm-fixed-price contract awarded in May 2013. NASA plans made public in mid-2013 called for a 2015 delivery of the module to the ISS.
In 2013, it was planned that at the end of BEAM's mission, it would be removed from the ISS and burn up during reentry.
During a press event on March 12, 2015, at the Bigelow Aerospace facility in North Las Vegas, Nevada, the completed ISS flight unit, compacted and with two Canadarm2 grapple fixtures attached, was displayed for the media.
In December 2021, Bigelow transferred ownership of BEAM to NASA's Johnson Space Center. With the cessation of Bigelow Aerospace activities, NASA contracted ATA Engineering, a former Bigelow subcontractor, for engineering support on the BEAM.
In early 2015, BEAM was scheduled for deployment on the next available ISS transport vehicle, SpaceX CRS-8, which was scheduled for launch in September 2015. Due to a rocket failure during the SpaceX CRS-7 launch in June 2015, the delivery of BEAM was delayed. The successful launch of SpaceX CRS-8 took place on April 8, 2016, and the Dragon cargo vehicle was berthed to the nadir port of Harmony node on April 10, 2016. On April 16, 2016, British astronaut Tim Peake extracted BEAM from Dragon's trunk using Canadarm2, and installed it on the aft port of Tranquility node.
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Bigelow Expandable Activity Module AI simulator
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Bigelow Expandable Activity Module
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an experimental expandable space station module developed by Bigelow Aerospace under contract with NASA. It was designed for testing as a temporary module on the International Space Station (ISS) beginning in 2016. BEAM arrived at the ISS on April 10, 2016, was berthed to the station on April 16, and was expanded and pressurized on May 28. Originally planned as a two-year test, the module has exceeded expectations and as of 2025, remains in use for additional cargo storage. Following Bigelow Aerospace's suspension of business operations in 2020, ownership of BEAM transferred to NASA.
NASA originally considered the idea of inflatable habitats in the 1960s, and developed the TransHab inflatable module concept in the late 1990s. The TransHab project was canceled by Congress in 2000, and Bigelow Aerospace purchased the rights to the patents developed by NASA to pursue private space station designs. In 2006 and 2007, Bigelow launched two demonstration modules to Earth orbit, Genesis I and Genesis II.
NASA re-initiated analysis of expandable module technology for a variety of potential missions beginning in early 2010. Various options were considered, including procurement from commercial provider Bigelow Aerospace, for providing what in 2010 was proposed to be a torus-shaped storage module for the International Space Station. One application of the toroidal BEAM design was as a centrifuge demo preceding further developments of the NASA Nautilus-X multi-mission exploration concept vehicle. In January 2011, Bigelow projected that the BEAM module could be built and made flight-ready 24 months after a build contract was secured.
On December 20, 2012, NASA awarded Bigelow Aerospace a US$17.8 million contract to construct the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) under NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Program. Sierra Nevada Corporation built the US$2 million Common Berthing Mechanism under a 16-month firm-fixed-price contract awarded in May 2013. NASA plans made public in mid-2013 called for a 2015 delivery of the module to the ISS.
In 2013, it was planned that at the end of BEAM's mission, it would be removed from the ISS and burn up during reentry.
During a press event on March 12, 2015, at the Bigelow Aerospace facility in North Las Vegas, Nevada, the completed ISS flight unit, compacted and with two Canadarm2 grapple fixtures attached, was displayed for the media.
In December 2021, Bigelow transferred ownership of BEAM to NASA's Johnson Space Center. With the cessation of Bigelow Aerospace activities, NASA contracted ATA Engineering, a former Bigelow subcontractor, for engineering support on the BEAM.
In early 2015, BEAM was scheduled for deployment on the next available ISS transport vehicle, SpaceX CRS-8, which was scheduled for launch in September 2015. Due to a rocket failure during the SpaceX CRS-7 launch in June 2015, the delivery of BEAM was delayed. The successful launch of SpaceX CRS-8 took place on April 8, 2016, and the Dragon cargo vehicle was berthed to the nadir port of Harmony node on April 10, 2016. On April 16, 2016, British astronaut Tim Peake extracted BEAM from Dragon's trunk using Canadarm2, and installed it on the aft port of Tranquility node.