First-ever space hotel slated to be operational by 2027

An out-of-this-world hotel is just a few years away from becoming a reality. 

This decade will see the start and completion of construction on humanity’s first hotel in outer space, according to the group behind it, Orbital Assembly. 

The 3-year-old company plans to begin building Voyager Station in low Earth orbit in 2025, and believes its interstellar resort may be operational as soon as 2027, the Daily Mail reported. 

Renderings of the celestial hotel are cosmic-chic: Individual pods are attached to a rotating wheel, with tubes connecting the different areas forming an X, similar to the wheel’s spokes.

Guests won’t be paying only for the novelty of the setting — there will be a slew of onboard amenities, including themed restaurants, a health spa, a cinema, gyms, libraries, concert venues, Earth-viewing lounges and bars, in addition to rooms for 400 people. Necessities including crew quarters, air, water and power will also take up a portion of the space facility. 

Orbital Assembly hopes to also sell portions of the hotel to permanent stakeholders, including government agencies looking to use the site as a training center or landlords looking to create a villa aboard the craft. 

It will reportedly circle the globe every 90 minutes, and the circle’s rotation will generate artificial gravity similar to that on the moon. No construction costs have been revealed. 

“This will be the next industrial revolution,” said John Blincow, the founder of Gateway Foundation, which will run some of the Voyager’s pods, according to the Daily Mail. The rotation aspect is “vital,” he added. Without gravity, people cannot viably be on a space station for a prolonged time; Orbital aims to make multimonth stays on the Voyager a possibility.

“People need gravity so their bodies won’t fall apart,” Blincow explained.

A robot by the name of STAR (Structure Trust Assembly Robot) is set to build the Voyager’s frame in orbit once the company completes some gravity-related testing.