The First Space Hotel Will Be Ready In 2027

The Orbital Assembly Corporation has plans to open its first hotel in space in 2027. The US-based company has been exploring this concept since 2019 and with the recent strides made to travel through space within the last couple of years, tourism into the solar system isn’t just for sci-fi movies anymore.

The original design for the space station was developed by the Gateway Foundation based in California. The design was called the Von Braun Station which consisted of “several modules connected by elevator shafts that make up a rotating wheel orbiting the Earth” as reported by CNN.com.

Since then Orbital Assembly, a space construction company has severed ties with Gateway and is now spearheading to launch two space stations with tourist accommodation. The first is the Voyager Station which is being designed to accommodate 400 people and to open in 2027. The more recent designed Pioneer Station, which will accommodate 28 people is expected to be ready in three years.

With Space Tourism peaking in interest this past year with billionaires such as Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk all developing rockets to orbit space, the hotel industry will definitely have a future beyond the sky. But before the general public can plan their trips to see the moon there’s still a hefty price to pay to travel into outer space. Tim Alatorre, Orbital Assembly’s COO, says eventually the common man will be able to make the trip into outer space as the space travel business takes off. “The goal has always been to make it possible for large amounts of people to live, work and thrive in space,” Alatorre told CNN Travel in a recent interview.

Alatorre theorizes that their Pioneer Station concept which is smaller scale will make space tourism achievable in a shorter period of time. “It’s going to get us the opportunity to have people start to experience space on a larger scale, faster,” he said. Commercial spaces and research labs will also be available once the stations are completed.

In 2019, Alatorre mentioned the physics behind Voyager Station would work like a spinning bucket of water. “The station rotates, pushing the contents of the station out to the perimeter of the station, much in the way that you can spin a bucket of water — the water pushes out into the bucket and stays in place,” he said. The station’s center would have no artificial gravity but as you head towards the outer parts of the station gravity increases.

The stations will still supply all the “comforts” of Earth such as showers, the ability to sit and dine, but the spaces with less gravity will be a fun quirky space experience for those who visit. Images of both interiors have been designed with a feel of a luxury hotel except for the views of Earth and outer space.

“It’s not going to be like you’re going to a factory or you’re going to a research facility,” Alatorre said. Instead, it should feel like a “sci-fi dream.”

“There’s not wires everywhere, it’s a comfortable space where you feel at home.”