Since the beginning of time, humans have been obsessed with space. Advances in the last century have made it possible for us to send astronauts to the moon and a roving vehicle to Mars. Now one company wants to make it possible for anyone (with money to spend) to vacation in space.
CNN reports that the Gateway Foundation has just released plans for the Von Braun Station, a cruise ship-style hotel that will float among the stars. The plan is to send the hotel into orbit by 2025 and have it fully operational for travel by 2027.
Shaped like a wheel, the Von Braun Station will be a rotating space station designed to produce varying levels of artificial gravity by increasing or decreasing the rate of rotation.
Named after Wernher von Braun, an aerospace engineer who pioneered rocket technology, The Gateway Foundation’s space hotel is just one space-based hotel that’s currently in development. Billionaires Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos all have aerospace companies that seek to capitalize on the burgeoning space tourism industry, and US-based space tech start-up Orion Span released plans earlier this year for a luxury space hotel called Aurora Station that is predicted to launch in 2022. Recently, the International Space Station announced the possibility of commercial collaborations.
As exciting as these plans are, most travelers won’t be able to afford a $9.5 million stay on the Aurora Station or the $250,000 it will cost to take a trip on Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Although stays at the Von Braun Station are likely to break the bank upon launch, The Gateway Foundation hopes to eventually lower costs to make a stay on the Von Braun Station comparable to a cruise trip or a visit to Disneyland.
The Von Braun station also hopes to accommodate more guests than the Aurora Station, which aims to sleep just 12 people. Upon completion, the Von Braun Station plans to sleep 352 with a capacity of 450.
