Video: Mike Gold of Bigelow Aerospace Talks Commercial Space

This is a really excellent interview. Some major points:

• The potential for biotech in orbit is enormous;
• Robert Bigelow has spent $180 million of his own money developing inflatable space station technology;
• About $200 million more is required to launch a working private space station;
• The company has a lot of confidence in the Atlas V, which it thinks could be easily human-rated;
• They would rather fly on a booster like Atlas V, which has an excellent track record, than a new rocket that’s not flown yet;
• A viable capsule is the missing element in the space transportation infrastructure;
• Bigelow and Boeing are working on a capsule that can be flow on multiple rockets, including the Falcon 9;
• It’s reasonable for the government to pick up the costs of the capsule given the cost involved and its own interest in having one.