As stated in a previous post, Bigelow Aersospace purchased the maiden flight of the Falcon V. Last week, according to the Russian news service Novosti, he followed up with a purchase of 6 flights on the Russian rocket Dnepr. The flights would commence in 2006 and would continue once every 7 or 8 months. Each Dnepr can put about 10,000 pounds into Low Earth Orbit, so this is a substantial total launch package (equivalent to about three International Space Station modules).
One thing that we can guess from this announcement is that Bigelow has chosen to launch material on a number of rockets of relatively low weight rather than relying on one or two heavy rockets. Also, he appears to want to support competitors in this weight class (so far, at least the Dnepr and the Falcon V). This strategy makes a lot of sense in our current business environment. The utilization rate for rocket launches is very low and there are several potential competitors in this weight class. He probably got a very good deal on all of the launches he has purchased so far. I wouldn't be surprised to see him turn around and buy additional launches on the Falcon V next year.
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