Los Angeles ? An experimental spacecraft bankrolled by a hotel chain magnate successfully inflated in orbit Wednesday, testing a technology that could lead to Robert Bigelow’s dream of building a commercial space station.

The watermelon-shaped Genesis I flew aboard a converted Cold War ballistic missile from Russia’s southern Ural Mountains. It was boosted about 320 miles above Earth minutes after launch, according to the Russian Strategic Missile Forces.

Unlike the rigid aluminum international space station, Genesis I consists of a flexible outer shell and is layered with tough material such as Kevlar, which is found in bulletproof police vests, to withstand flying space debris.