Billionaire sends inflatable habitat into space

Billionaire hotel and real estate magnate Robert Bigelow Friday joined the business space race with a little help from Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
 
The SpaceX rocket launched Friday carried with it an inflatable living space that will be attached to the International Space Station. The package, roughly 6-by-8 feet, inflates to provide 500 cubic feet of living space, according to Fortune.
 
Bigelow, the owner of Budget Suites of America, also owns Bigelow Aerospace, which developed the $25 million habitat called BEAM.
 
Astronauts on ISS will monitor the habitat to determine if it can hold up to temperature changes, radiation and collisions with debris.
 
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