WASHINGTON- Houston-based Orion Span hopes to launch the “first luxuryhotel in space” – the 35-by-14 foot Aurora Station – by late 2021 and bringguests on board the following year. The hotel will accommodate up to fourtravelers and two crew members at a time, racing them around the planet athigh speeds for 12 days, the company said in a news release.
Adventurers pay $9.5 million per person – or about $791,666 a night – andtheir $80,000 deposit can already be reserved online, company officialssaid. But don’t fear: The deposit is fully refundable.
“We want to get people into space because it’s the final frontier for ourcivilization,” Orion Span’s founder and chief executive, Frank Bunger, toldBloomberg.
Orion Span’s announcement of Aurora comes amid a revival of the commercialspace industry
Bunger said that one reason Orion Span can aim for a price of less than $10million per person is because of the declining price of launches.
“Everybody’s forecasting that [launch prices are] going to fall,” he toldBloomberg. “Almost every week there’s another rocket launch company that’sstarting up with a new way to get to orbit cheaper, faster, better.”
Orion Span’s announcement of a luxury hotel in space comes amid a revivalof the commercial space industry. The launch of Elon Musk’s Falcon Heavyfrom the Kennedy Space Center in February, for example, was the latest in aseries of milestones that have renewed companies’ interest in space.
The launch raised the question of whether SpaceX and other privateenterprises could maintain their momentum and fulfill the promise ofreturning humans to space. That likelihood could increase as the Trumpadministration looks to restructure the role of NASA, allowing privateenterprise and international partners to work closely with the space agency.
Orion Span’s proposed hotel offers plenty of attractions: zero gravityflying throughout the station, views of patrons’ home towns from space, theability to take part in research experiments such as growing food while inorbit, and live-streams with friends and family at home through high-speedInternet.
Since commercial spaceflight has yet to launch humans into space, AuroraStation visitors will have three months of training, which would begin withonline courses to better understand “basic spaceflight, orbital mechanics,and pressurized environments in space,” officials told Bloomberg. Theguests will also have contingency training at the company’s headquarters inHouston.
“Orion Span has … taken what was historically a 24-month training regimento prepare travelers to visit a space station and streamlined it to threemonths, at a fraction of the cost,” company officials said. “Our goal is tomake space accessible to all, by continuing to drive greater value at lowercost.”
Bunger, a former software engineer, told Bloomberg that the experiencewon’t be for everyone. The Aurora Station will mainly cater to those whoare passionate about space and astronomical study.
“We’re not selling a hey-let’s-go-to-the-beach equivalent in space,” Bungersaid. “We’re selling the experience of being an astronaut. You reckon thatthere are people who are willing to pay to have that experience.”