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If all goes as planned, Genesis 1 will give Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace a foothold in space to begin testing hardware in advance of a planned full-scale space station by 2015. Founded in 1999 by hotel tycoon and entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, the company aims to validate inflatable structures in space and build a private space station to host paying customers.

Bigelow himself is footing the bill for the project. He estimates he has already invested $75 million into the company through April 2006, and $500 million could be required before his plans come to fruition.

Less than 10 hours after launch, Bigelow confirmed the prototype spacecraft was in good health after ground controllers in Las Vegas received the first signals from Genesis 1. Officials then quickly confirmed the craft had inflated with pure nitrogen gas and deployed its solar panels on schedule.

Genesis 1 carries a group of 13 cameras mounted both inside and outside the module to observe the behavior of the craft throughout its lifetime, which is forecast to be between three-and-a-half and seven years. The exact life span of the spacecraft depends on its future health, the outcome of its testing, and orbital mechanics.

"This launch was the first step in an adventure that will take us all to the stars and beyond," said Mike Gold, corporate counsel for Bigelow Aerospace.

If engineers see good results from the first few months of Genesis 1 operations, Bigelow will give the go-ahead to launch a follow-on craft called Genesis 2 late this year. The new module will contain expanded life-support systems, various upgrades in avionics, and a new inflation tank design, Bigelow told Spaceflight Now.

Launched atop another Dnepr rocket, Genesis 2 will also usher in a new era in commercial spaceflight. Bigelow Aerospace is now taking online orders to fly personal photos and other small items aboard the module. Cameras positioned inside the spacecraft will be ready to take pictures of the floating objects after they are released upon reaching orbit. The images will be downlinked back to Earth.