Discover 7 Things About The World’s First Space Hotel with Artificial Gravity
It’s been a couple of years since we reported on the world’s first space hotel with artificial gravity. During that time, we’ve seen the industry progress and young and old take brief trips to orbit and return safely. The era of space tourism has just begun and with it the development of Orbital Assembly’s hotel with what they believe is the essential amenity for the well-heeled traveler – gravity. Recently, we sat down with Tim Alatorre, Orbital Assembly COO and VP of Habitation who fills us in.
the network: When did the idea for this space hotel begin?
Alatorre: The idea of space travel and space tourism being commonplace goes back over a hundred years. There are three key components necessary to facilitate this future: 1) low cost to transport people and cargo to orbit; 2) the technology and systems to keep people healthy for long periods of time in space; and 3) the capital and resources to make it happen.
In 2016, SpaceX successfully landed a Falcon 9 booster showing that rocket reusability was feasible, and we realized that the future of space commerce was at a turning point. SpaceX had lowered launch costs to less than $3,000 per kg to orbit for the first time in history, opening the door to private development companies. That’s what spurred us to form Orbital Assembly Corporation – a real estate development company for space that provides artificial gravity so people can have the comforts of earth.
Soon, our space stations will be used for manufacturing, research, and development which will allow us to make the station economically viable but will provide only a few jobs. As we scale our stations, tourism, and particularly hotels, greater numbers of people will be able to experience space for short durations. It will also create new job opportunities, spurring on the space economy.
the network: What kind of consumer will this hotel cater to?
Alatorre: The first iteration of the hotel will serve a small number of ultra-high net worth individuals. It will provide a level of gravity that will enable a guest to use the bathroom like they would on earth, eat regular food and stand without floating. Unlike a terrestrial hotel which is built at its final capacity—where expansions come in the form of building a new hotel in a different location—our station will stay in its orbit and expansions will be added over time to the same structural core.
the network: What will the experience be like?
Alatorre: It will have the same basic hotel components: Preparation, travel to, arrival, check-in and orientation, acclimation, relaxation and entertainment, dining, check-out, travel home. A possible stay could look like:
- (Preparation) The basic items of preparation will be like what you would do to go to a terrestrial location, packing your bags, getting legal documentation in place It will depend greatly on the requirements of the launch provider and their requirements. As the SpaceX Starship and other next generation craft come online, we anticipate groups of tourists up to one hundred at a time visiting.
- (The Ride)Tourists will have the classic astronaut experience as they travel to our station. We will rely on other partners to provide transportation. After the acceleration phase is complete, the tourists will experience microgravity as they wait to rendezvous with the space station which, depending on the launch provider and mission profile, can take from several hours to a couple days.
- (Arrival)The docking craft will arrive at the central portion of the station, not rotating and in microgravity. Once docked the passengers will remove and stow their pressure suits and then pass through the airlock into the station. As they move outwards, they will start to feel a gradual increase in gravity pulling them onward. At first it will be barely noticeable, but by the time they reach the bottom they will be able to stand and walk on the floor.
- (Check-in and Orientation)When we first begin operation, the hotel will have a minimum number of modules and minimal crew complement and “check-in” and orientation will most likely happen pre-launch.
- (Acclimation)In a terrestrial resort it might take a moment to get used to the weather or the time zone in the new location. On our stations there will also be a need to acclimate to the artificial gravity.
- (Relaxation and entertainment)While Earth-viewing will be an event in itself, we do want to offer as many types of recreational activities as possible. One of the benefits of even a small amount of artificial gravity is that simple things like eating, drinking, sleeping, and toilet usage become significantly easier. Food has taste and isn’t from a pouch, liquids can be drunk from a glass, and toilet usage, well, we’ll leave that to your readers to do their own research on microgravity toilets.
- (Check-out)As guests depart, we hope they will be changed for the better. For the space enthusiast that should be an easy task, but as prices get lower and a broader spectrum of humanity visits the station, we expect that the occasional skeptic will make the trip to our stations. The return trip will likely be the same ship.
