An extraordinary hotel is only a few years away from becoming a reality.
This decade will see the start and completion of construction of humanity’s first-ever hotel in space, according to the group behind it, Orbital Assembly.
The 3-year-old company plans to begin construction of Voyager Station in low Earth orbit in 2025, and believes the interstellar resort may be operational as early as 2027, the Daily Mail reported.
The views of the celestial hotel are cosmic-chic: individual pods are attached to a spinning wheel, with tubes connecting the different areas and forming an X, as if it were the wheel’s axis.
Guests will not only pay for the novelty of the environment – there will also be a whole host of amenities on board, including themed restaurants, a spa, a cinema, gyms, libraries, concert halls, lounges and bars to watch the earth up to rooms for 400 . Supplies such as crew quarters, air, water and power will also occupy part of the spaceship.
Orbital Assembly also hopes to sell parts of the hotel to permanent stakeholders, including government agencies who want to use the space as a training center or landlords who want to create a villa on board the vessel.
It will reportedly orbit the Earth every 90 minutes, and the circle’s rotation will generate artificial gravity similar to that on the Moon. No construction costs have been disclosed.
“This will be the next industrial revolution,” said John Blincow, founder of Gateway Foundation, which will run some of the Voyager pods, according to the Daily Mail. The rotation aspect is “essential,” he added. Without gravity, humans cannot be viable in a space station for long periods of time; Orbital wants to allow a stay of several months on Voyager.
“People need gravity to keep their bodies from falling apart,” explained Blincow.
A robot called STAR (Structure Trust Assembly Robot) will build the Voyager’s frame in orbit once the company has completed a number of gravity-related tests.
