It’s unclear as to how exactly the coronavirus pandemic affected Bigelow — aerospace manufacturing is deemed an essential industry by the government, meaning the company would be allowed to continue its operations despite any mandated business closures. The company has been facing issues over the past several years, though. The slightly eccentric founder of the company, Robert Bigelow, said that financial concerns prevented the company from submitting a proposal to NASA last year, when it solicited bids for more commercial modules to be attached to the ISS. (NASA eventually chose Axiom Space to supply the modules, and will install them starting in 2024.)

If Bigelow Aerospace doesn’t resume business, it could be a noticeable loss for the industry. And while Rober Bigelow himself didn’t lay the groundwork for inflatable spacecraft (he licensed the technology from NASA and then built upon it), he and his company were able to achieve a major accomplishment by creating the first fully functional inflatable habitat to be used in space. Unfortunately, we may never see the company’s inflatable orbiter come to fruition.