NASA and Sierra Space intentionally burst an inflatable space station in ground testing. It surpassed the 63 PSI goal and is stronger than normal steel space stations. The test article reached over 77 PSI before failing.
The inflatable station has nine layers of material for the walls.
There is an inflatable module on the space station built by a different company. However, the technology is proven in space.
The layers of material are better at managing the harsh environment of space while giving more volume for the same or less weight.
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They said it was 1/3 of the volume of the ISS.
I suppose it’s comparable to the Bigelow 330?
If so, is it this size for it was made for current proven launchers, like the Falcon Heavy?
I wonder what size would fit in a Starship.
Last time I checked none of Bigelow’s habitat sizes lined up with SpaceX launchers.
I never thought inflatable modules weren’t safe, the problem is they were designed for an era when orbital launch was both very limited in mass/volume and very expensive. How much do inflatables cost? IIRC Bigelow expected to sell them for hundreds of millions each – which made sense in that era. If SpaceX can build a Starship for a fraction of that it can build steel space station modules for a small fraction of that.
Sure but then there wouldn’t be all that potential drama about meteorites and even micro- meteorites. C’mon man!