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Orbital Assembly’s commercial ‘space hotel’ to open by 2027

Orbital Assembly, an ambitious manufacturing firm centred on space colonisation, has unveiled new details for its celestial ‘space hotel’ planned for a momentous opening in 2027.

Thanks to the pandemic, the prospect of going abroad anytime soon to soak up sea, sun, and unwind seems an unrealistic one. Fret not though, Orbital Assembly is plotting a getaway resort that is quite literally out of this world.

Orbital Assembly has emerged this year as the fresh face of The Gateway Foundation, a manufacturing firm set up in 2012 to devise commercial outer-Earth experiences. The engineering tycoon first became a household name in 2019 with grandiose claims it was working on a futuristic build for the first ever space hotel.

Paying homage to one of science’s historic visionaries Wernher Von Braun – who had expressed the idea of building a circular space station based on a bicycle wheel way back in the 1950s – the initial project was named the ‘Von Braun Space Station’ and revealed a circular design similar to that of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Unfortunately, an initial wave of mainstream media coverage quickly died down and was followed by radio silence in the years ahead. This week though, we’ve finally we’ve been given updates on how the project is coming along, and when we can expect the stellar build to really take off. Thank you, I’m here all week.


The largest human-built object in space

Resurfacing under the guise of the ‘Voyager Station,’ new renderings show a cosmic-chic design which Orbital Assembly aims to begin building in 2025, and eventually shoot into low-orbit (400 kilometres above Earth) in 2027.

The giant wheel shaped construction will be ferried into Zero G piece-by-piece, before being joined together by engineering robots. Provided all goes to plan, the vessel will eventually span a diameter of 200 metres making it the biggest man-made undertaking in space so far.

Docking in the inner ring from reusable launch vehicles like SpaceX’s Falcon 9, Orbital Assembly hopes to accommodate up to 400 visitors and will offer up all the amenities you’d expect from a pricey cruise-ship holiday. If you happen to be wondering about the logistics of travel insurance, we’ve no idea either.

It will feature a series of pods attached to the outside of the rotating ring and some of these pods could be sold to the likes of NASA and ESA for space research

The outer rim will be devised of 24 modules 20×12 metres in size, which will include crew quarters and solar power infrastructures. Additionally, there are plans for themed restaurants, a health spa, gyms, concert venues, a cinema, Earth-viewing bars, and swanky hotel rooms – members of the ‘Mile High Club’ will be truly triggered.

Orbital Assembly also hopes to sell portions of the hotel to permanent stakeholders, which could allow government agencies to train astronauts, or billionaire landlords to build the ultimate holiday home, for example. As the concepts show, all modules are equipped with emergency shuttles as a safety precaution should on-board systems fail… or perhaps some kind of Xenomorph infestation take place.

The hotel will reportedly circle the globe every 90 minutes providing stunning views to all rooms around the clock, but if that isn’t enough of a rush in itself, ‘spacewalks’ will be available across the exterior of the vessel.

With long stays expected for those on-board, Orbital Assembly has also devised outside thrusters that keep the construction spinning slowly and provide artificial gravity to keep occupants grounded. You wouldn’t want to wake up floating, after all.

Rotation is 'vital' says Blincow, as it isn't viable to have people on a space station without gravity for long periods of time - and people may want to be in space for months at a time, especially when working in a hotel


The roadmap to 2027

Orbital Assembly hasn’t given much away regarding the projected cost of such a gargantuan project, but estimates from those in the know are in the ballpark of a cool $75 billion USD.

Given the current economic struggles taking place on our own planet right now, this announcement has predictably made for highly memeable content online.

Furthermore, in order to reach such a hefty outlay – and usher in what Orbital Assembly describes as a ‘new era of space’ – the official website is calling for public investment to push for an unveiling in just six years. Aiming to reflect realistic entry prices, and not to exclude everyone bar the business elite, Orbital Assembly need to amass a fortune to make that happen. And fast.

Next on the agenda is building a test prototype to gain government approval for the final build. This smaller model, dubbed the ‘near-term demonstrator,’ will have a circumference of 61 meters and will aim to create artificial gravity in the manner the plan suggests.

In the works as we speak, this build will take around two years on Earth, with components being linked together in space in just three days.

If lockdown has provided you with a chance to save some cash, you may want to lock a reservation in for your own module aboard the Voyager Station now. No seriously, that’s actually a thing.

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