'Space hotel' prototype launched into orbit

The first inflatable spacecraft to orbit Earth has just launched from the southern Ural Mountains in Russia, setting the stage for what could spawn an orbital hotel business.

The Genesis I craft lifted off at 6:53 p.m. Moscow time on July 12, atop a Russian-built rocket.

Bigelow Aerospace, owned by Las Vegas hotel mogul Robert Bigelow, created the craft, launched with the help of a missile dating back to the Cold War.

Genesis I is currently carrying pictures of Bigelow staff, and insects to test the design's suitability for humans.

The craft is padded with layers of Kevlar - the material that makes-up bulletproof vests - to protect it from flying space debris.

Genesis I will orbit the Earth for a minimum of five years before scientists make any conclusions as to how durable it is.

Plans to launch Genesis II later this year are currently underway, according to the company's Las Vegas headquarters.

Genesis I is a prototype only, one-third the size of Bigelow's future goal: a full-size, orbiting commercial space station made up of several inflatable Genesis-like modules.

Bigelow eventually wants the station to serve as an orbital college, hotel, or science lab.

Bigelow aims to build a full-size prototype and test it by 2012, with hopes to launch the actual commercial space station in 2015.

So far, he has invested $500 million US into the project.

Photography: MSNBC

Source: Discovery Channel Reports, July 12 edition