(http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/01/17/Health-Environment-Science/Graphics/w-NASA0117-gA.jpg)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/01/17/Health-Environment-Science/Graphics/w-NASA0117-gA.jpg
Quote
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are going to be getting an addition in the near future, and in the form of an inflatable room no less. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is the first privately-built space habitat that will added to the ISS, and it will be transported into orbit aboard a Space X Falcon 9 rocket sometime next year.
"The BEAM is one small step for Bigelow Aerospace," Bigelow representative Michael Gold told Universe Today, "but is also one giant leap for private sector space activities since the BEAM will be the first privately owned and developed module ever to be part of a crewed system in space."
http://www.universetoday.com/115135/the-bigelow-expandable-activity-module-an-inflatable-room-for-astronauts/
http://phys.org/news/2014-10-bigelow-inflatable-module-added-space.html
Is this technology the reason they knew they did not need the Space Shuttle? For all we know they have been shipping inflatable space station units up covertly all along and there are non-shiny (black) space stations in operation beyond the gaze of the public..... ;)