The first hotel in the universe will open to guests in 2027

Resorts in luxury villas and hotels are about to become obsolete, when we now have the right to dream of vacation trips in space. After six decades, space science is moving toward commercialization, allowing more and more billionaires to buy passages beyond Earth's atmosphere.

In just the past few months, founder, Jeff Bezos and billionaire Richard Branson have had a flight around the edge of Kármán Street - the boundary between the atmosphere and outer space, opening up the future of spacecraft serving the planet. The customer is an ordinary person.

With this need in mind, Sacramento-based Orbital Assembly Corporation (AOC), announced its ambitious plan: to open its first space hotel in 2027, the Voyager station. . Voyager is shaped as a luxury resort, accommodating up to 280 guests and 112 astronauts, as well as many other necessary facilities such as a restaurant, bar, concert hall, gym, etc. even cinemas.

Voyager station space hotel will open to guests in 2027.

It sounds very absurd for such a hotel project. Tim Alatorre, OAC vice president and Voyager architect, said: 'This utopian plan is about to be realized, and believe me, it won't take too long. Becoming an astronaut is no longer a distant thing for ordinary people.

Rest in space

The idea of ​​bringing humans far beyond the Earth's atmosphere has existed for a long time, possibly from the time of our ancestors. Voyager's basic structure is based on a century of theories about how the frontier would eventually colonize.

The concept of a spinning wheel dates back to the 1900s as a way to create artificial gravity. It was then popularized in the 1950s by German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. The artificial centrifugal force it creates when rotating helps visitors move normally in the space environment.

At first, the degree of gravity of the spinning wheel will be equivalent to that of the moon, about 1/6 of the Earth. Alatorre says the company hopes to spin it to Mars-like gravity (1/3 of Earth's gravity), and eventually reach Earth's ideal gravity.

However, currently, there is very little data on human adaptation to artificial gravity, they want to understand the physiology of passengers before raising the G-force (the imaginary inertial force used to explain the acceleration). relative of an object when it changes direction or changes speed relative to when in free fall).

After departing from the parent planet, visitors will arrive at the central zero gravity pier.

In addition, being in an environment with lunar gravity is the dream of many people. People with disabilities face less physical barriers, people with healthy bodies can even become professional athletes in the new world.

After departing from the parent planet, visitors will arrive at the central zero gravity pier. From here, extension elevator shafts transport us to the outside of a series of 'residence modules' located around the circular terminal area. In this position, the new centrifugal force is strong enough to ensure the safety of visitors.

The hotel has a total of 24 modules, with a total area of ​​up to 11,600m2, guests can enjoy all the facilities they need. They can lift hundreds of kilograms of dumbbells, practice the aerial dunk, enjoy live music, traditional foods like tang cake and freeze-dried ice cream, and many other foods.

The real beauty of this hotel is the view of Earth outside the window, against the dark universe of stars.

The price of travel

One issue that concerns many prospective travelers is the cost of short trips to space. Alatorre says they are in talks with booking agents. The ticket price that the boy Oliver Daemen paid for a position next to Bezos was $ 28 million. A huge price, only for the super rich, and certainly not for us.

However, Alatorre stated: 'We wanted to make travel an easy option. If you want to go to Paris for a week or you want to go to space in a week, we want it to be a matter of taste, not money." Although he didn't go into detail, he said that the Voyager hotel's target price is the same as a yacht ticket.

He believes that, with the development of private launch systems - the Starship rocket and the Super Heavy rocket from Elon Musk's SpaceX - the cost per pound (unit of British weight) in orbit will decrease. . Transportation is no longer limited to mass. Alatorre thinks hotel stays will become easier for people within a decade.

Reality or not?

Although SpaceX does not have a business relationship with AOC, it is still very interested in the startup with an ambitious idea. The SpaceX boss tweeted that: 'Perhaps SpaceX can offer a two-way ticket by the time the project is complete? We are very curious to know if this plan will come true or not?'.

Alatorre admits that business partners and investors are uncertain about the future of the project. However, considering that the 23-year-old International Space Station (ISS) - the most logical tourist destination currently in orbit - is nearing its final chapter, some space companies hope to be able to fill the space. empty it with new projects.

The hotel has a total of 24 modules, with a total area of ​​up to 11,600m2.

Axiom has a contract with NASA to attach a 'target module' to the ISS. This module will link with other module chains, forming an independent commercial station. Last month, Sierra Space and Blue Origin, the aerospace arm of the Bezos empire, announced plans to create the Orbital Reef commercial station, which will be fully operational by the end of the decade. However, up to now, only Voyager is the only name that has the opportunity to exploit space tourism.

Above all, says Alatorre, he believes in the theory and mechanics of the space hotel. AOC has almost completed the design of the 'Gravity Ring' - a microcosm of the wheel design, the station building and a few residence modules. These prototypes - expected to be habitable by 2025 - will enter the final testing phase before final assembly of Voyager.

'We are committed to this project. We dedicate our lives as well as the fortunes of a lifetime to make it happen. There is nothing technologically stopping us. It's only a matter of time and money, we can get through those," Alatorre said.