Further staff reductions occurred at the start of 2016, estimated by industry sources to be between 30 and 50 people of 150 employed at the time of the layoffs. This came after the company advertised more than 100 jobs in 2015 at both its North Las Vegas headquarters and its newly established propulsion department in Huntsville, Alabama. As part of its reduction in workforce, the company closed the Huntsville facility. In February 2018, the company announced the formation of a new subsidiary, Bigelow Space Operations, to handle operational aspects of marketing and operating space stations in low Earth orbit. In March 2020, the company laid off all of its employees, 88 in total. NASA Lawsuit On March 26, 2021, Bigelow Aerospace filed a lawsuit against NASA with the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. The lawsuit alleges that NASA still owes them $1.05 million “for work done developing and testing an expandable space module.” In December 2021, Bigelow transferred ownership of BEAM to NASA's Johnson Space Center. Module design and business plans Expandable module design overview Bigelow Aerospace anticipates that its inflatable modules will be more durable than rigid modules. This is partially due to the company's use of several layers of vectran, a material twice as strong as kevlar, and also because, in theory, flexible walls should be able to sustain micrometeoroid impacts better than rigid walls. In ground-based testing, micrometeoroids capable of puncturing standard ISS module materials penetrated only about halfway through the Bigelow skin. Operations director Mike Gold commented that Bigelow modules also wouldn't suffer from the same local shattering problems likely with metallic modules. This could provide as much as 24 hours to remedy punctures in comparison to the more serious results of standard ISS skin micrometeoroid damage. Expected uses for Bigelow Aerospace's expandable modules include microgravity research and development and space manufacturing. Other potential uses include variable - gravity research — for gravity gradients above microgravity including Moon (0.16 g) and Mars (0.38 g) gravity research; space tourism — such as modules for orbital hotels; and space transportation — such as components in spaceships for Moon or Mars crewed missions. Business plans the Bigelow Aerospace website shows several pricing schemes including US$51.25 million for 60 days on a B330 space station. That price covers everything including transport, training, and consumables. For US$25 million Bigelow Aerospace customers can lease a third of a