Space hotel costs nearly 800,000 USD/night
The first luxury hotel in space, Aurora Station, is the perfect place for those who want to experience what it's like to live like an astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS).
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| Exterior of the first space hotel Aurora Station. |
According to Boomberg, Orion Span in Houston, Texas (USA), is expecting to put Aurora Station, the first luxury hotel in space, into operation from the end of 2021 and start welcoming guests from 2022.
Two crew members will accompany each trip to the hotel. Aurora Station will orbit nearly 200 miles above Earth, allowing guests to witness 384 sunrises and sunsets over 12 days.
Once upon a time, the idea seemed like fiction. Now, in an age where SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are racing to reach space, the idea of a private company launching a hotel orbiting the Earth is no longer a far-fetched one.
“We want to take humans into space because it is the final frontier of our civilization,” said Orion Span founder and CEO Frank Bunger. However, the service is not for everyone.
“We’re not selling a vacation in space, we’re selling the experience of being an astronaut. We think there are people who are willing to pay for this experience,” Bunger said. In addition to the physical limitations, the astronaut experience also has many financial limitations. The 12-day trip starts at $9.5 million per person, or about $791,666 per night.
Aurora Station has an interior area of about 10.6 x 4 square meters, equivalent to the interior area of a Gulfstream G550 private jet. It will accommodate up to four guests and two crew members. The company requires a fully refundable deposit of $80,000, which will be accepted starting April 5.
Orion Span is evaluating potential funding sources for the project, but would not say how much it is seeking. Orion Span reflects the type of commercial venture that has become increasingly popular over the past decade. Since 2015, aerospace startups have attracted $7.9 billion in investment, according to consulting firm Bryce Space & Technology.
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| Hotel interior. |
Orion Span has yet to sign a contract with a launch provider, nor has it signed a contract for its first flights to build a space station that will eventually host passenger flights. The four-year timeframe it has set may just be a way to gauge what kind of market it could find.
Orion Span’s chief architect, chief technologist, and chief operating officer are all former NASA employees. Frank Bunger said the current hotel design is compatible with most current launch configurations, including Arianespace, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance. The company may also partner with government space agencies.
One reason Orion Span is targeting a price tag below $10 million per person is because launch costs are falling. “Everyone predicts that launch costs will come down. Almost every week there’s a new rocket company coming up with a way to get it into orbit that’s cheaper, faster, and better,” Bunger said.
