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.

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.