Space tourism is a topic that many companies are currently dealing with. While Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson are concerned with the path to the stars, there is one topic that should not be neglected either: accommodation. According to the plans of the space company Orbital Assembly, the first hotel with a view of the solar system is to be realized as early as 2025.
At the beginning of May, the U.S. company published its designs for the hotel among the stars, which could soon be the new home of space tourists. The so-called Voyager Station consists of several interconnected modules and at first glance resembles a rotating wheel that circles the earth.
In total, Orbital Assembly has developed two concepts that will serve as hotels of the future. One hotel is to offer space for 400 people and go into operation in 2027, while the so-called Pioneer Station is initially to enable only 28 people to vacation in space, but that in the next three years.
The goal, according to Orbital Assembly, is to create a space business park that can accommodate both offices and tourists.
Published designs for the interiors of both stations suggest they will be not unlike a luxury hotel on Earth. Not only will they offer the aesthetics of a classic hotel, but they will also have some of the same amenities – only with an extremely mesmerizing view and feeling of weightlessness (at least in some parts of the space station).
Space tourists can therefore also expect restaurants, bars, musical and film performances, and seminars. A low-gravity basketball court will also be integrated, where weightlessness will be a big part of the experience, just like trampolines and climbing parks inside the space hotel.
It will still take some time before the hotel really takes off to the stars, as there is still some funding to be sorted out and there have also been repeated problems in the past, such as with the previous company Gateway, which was originally commissioned to realize the project. Despite all this, we are on the way to the stars and vacation trips to the solar system may no longer be science fiction in less than a decade, but part of our reality.
Pictures: Orbital Assembly / CNN
