Report: Company Developing Private Space Station Lays Off All Employees

Bigelow Aerospace, the space company that attached an inflatable storage room to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2016, is laying off its entire workforce here on Earth. SpaceNews.com reported the development on Monday, attributing the Bigelow's move "at least in part" to the growing Coronavirus pandemic.

Citing persons familiar with the company's situation, SpaceNews says the Coronavirus pandemic was part of a "perfect storm of problems," that included an emergency directive handed down by Nevada's governor, instructing all "nonessential" businesses to close in an attempt to slow the spread of the contagion.

Founded by hotel-chain operator Robert Bigelow in 1999, Bigelow Aerospace operates out of its corporate headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company has developed multiple inflatable habitation "modules" known as "Bigelow Expandable Activity Modules," or BEAMs, with the aim of using them to supplement available workspace on ISS. The BEAM module currently attached to ISS, however, is considered a "demo" model, smaller than the full-sized B330 BEAM, which contains 330 cubic meters of usable volume.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com