Images: First room launched for space hotel

The Genesis I was hurled into orbit by a Dnepr LV rocket--the first launch from the Yasny launch base in Russia. The rocket is a converted SS-18 ICBM. The launch was coordinated by the International Space Company Kosmotras under the direction of both Russia and the Ukraine.

On the company's Web site, company founder Robert Bigelow says he expects an upcoming transportation problem. Bigelow wants to launch up to 10 times by 2010 using large rockets, and says that 16 launches per year will be needed to supply two space complexes.

ISC Kosmotras

Bigelow releases the first photo of Genesis I from its orbit which shows it in the process of inflating to full size.

The launch procedure was not without its glitches--not in space but on Earth. SpaceQuest of Arlington, Va., was supposed to communicate with Genesis I, but a heavy storm caused a last-minute power outage, knocking out the tracking station. A long rope of extension cords was connected to a restaurant with power down the street, and manually pointing the antenna allowed SpaceQuest to hear the initial signal from Genesis I.

Bigelow Aerospace

Bigelow Aeorspace began operations in 1999 and is mostly funded by its founder, Robert T. Bigelow. Bigelow, according to the company's Web site, has invested almost $75 million of his own money--about 95 percent of the total expenditures as of April 2006. He expects to spend up to $500 million from his own pocket to get his space complex off the ground by 2015. Bigelow is no novice in the hospitality industry; he made his fortune as the owner of Budget Suites of America.

Bigelow Aerospace

Bigelow plans to launch its space complex into orbit in sections that will be powered by large solar cells.

Bigelow Aerospace

While in orbit, the sections will inflate to their full size.

Bigelow Aerospace

The sections will be assembled into a space complex that will have room for rockets to dock and return to Earth.

Bigelow Aerospace

Here, this artist's model shows supply rockets on three sides of the space complex.

Bigelow Aerospace

Bigelow Aerospace plans to sell space for personal items aboard its next space project, Genesis II, which is slated for the fall of 2006. The Bigelow site offers people a chance to send photos or small keepsakes into orbit and proposes an in-capsule video camera to show the objects, floating in the weightless environment, back to Earth. The cost is $295 per photo, but a limited is discount available.

Bigelow Aerospace

Bigelow hopes to recoup some of its costs by winning America's Space Prize of $50 million. The contest rewards the first private spacecraft to send a crew of at least five people on a journey of at least two orbits and return them safely back to Earth by January 10, 2010. And then they must repeat the feat within 30 days.

Bigelow Aerospace

Bigelow has built its own mission control in Las Vegas to track the progress of the Genesis I and future missions.

Bigelow Aerospace

A wall of monitors helps technicians track the progress. Quiet please.

Bigelow Aerospace

Here's another early photo of the Genesis I craft.

Bigelow Aerospace