Plans for Orion Span’s Aurora Station, the world’s first luxury space hotel, were announced recently at the Space 2.0 Summit in San Jose, California. Launching in 2021 and open for guest stays the next year. As a growing number of people are eager to fulfil the space-age dream, get ready, for your next big vacation to infinity and beyond.
The luxurious Vienna Suite from the set of Passengers, a 2016 sci-fi film
Touted as the world’s “first affordable luxury space hotel” by Orion Span founder and CEO Frank Bunger, a 2-day stay will cost 9.5 million USD as Space reports. This is a significant dip compared to trips ticketed between $20 million to $40 million USD to the International Space station.
Courtesy of Orion Span
The Aurora Station will be produced alongside employees with expertise in design and operation in ISS. The hotel will be manufactured in Houston, Texas and its coinciding software will be developed in the Bay Area.
According to Space, Aurora Station’s spans 43.5 feet long by 14.1 feet wide, comparable to the cabin of a large private jet. The luxury space hotel can host four guests and two crew members, orbiting at an altitude of 200 miles above earth (lower than ISS’ 250 miles). Bunger casts his long-term vision to sell residence in these budding projects. “We’re calling that a space condo. So, either for living or subleasing, that’s the future vision here — to create a long-term, sustainable human habitation in LEO [low earth orbit].”
Moon Express is also embarking on a similar space mission. True to its name, this US company is targeting to launch to the moon within a decade. Its founder Mr Naveen Jain has suggested tickets could sell for as little as $10,000.With celebrity backers such as Mr Pharrell Williams and will.i.am, Moon Express has managed to raise $450m of funding.
2021 seems to be a good year of prospects, as billionaire US hotelier Mr Robert Bigelow also plans to launch an inflatable space hotel under his company Bigelow Aerospace. In fact, one of his inflatable Bigelow Space Operations pods already attached to the ISS in 2016. Artistic renderings of the space hotel shows ample storage areas, battery boxes, gym, “personal quarters” and a place labeled “personal hygiene equipment”. Rooms are prospected to be priced at “low eight-figure sums”.
Bigelow, the founder of Budget Suites of America hotel chain in 1987, had his head in the stars since he was 12 years old. Determined in a future in space travel, he decided to ‘choose a career that would make him rich enough that, one day, he could hire the scientific expertise required to launch his own space program’.
Dreams do come true, cheers with piña coladas in space!
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