US-based space company Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC) has announced a new space hotel concept called Pioneer that could open as early as 2025.
OAC’s previously-announced Voyager Station is scheduled to open later in 2027. It will hold up to 400 guests, whereas Pioneer can accommodate 28 people. Its smaller scale means it’s able to open to visitors sooner rather than later.
“The goal has always been to make it possible for large amounts of people to live, work and thrive in space,” Tim Alatorre, Orbital Assembly’s chief operating officer told CNN Travel.
“It’s going to get us the opportunity to have people start to experience space on a larger scale, faster,” he added.
Office spaces and research facilities will be available to rent on both stations, and Voyager Station and Pioneer will feature artificial gravity, so guests can eat and drink sitting down and shower.
The stations are furnished like luxury hotels and will be like a “sci-fi dream”. “It’s not going to be like you’re going to a factory or you’re going to a research facility,” Alatorre said.
“There’s not wires everywhere, it’s a comfortable space where you feel at home,” he added.
OAC’s Voyager Station scheduled to open in 2027
Alatorre said space tourism won’t just be for billionaires like Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos, SpaceX’s Elon Musk and Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson.
“We’re doing everything we can to make space accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy,” he said.
OAC has “talked to pretty much everybody” in the industry about collaboration because “the one thing that all of these companies are missing is the destination”, Alatorre said.
“It’s kind of like if you want to go see the Grand Canyon and you drive past it and come right back home.”
Space Perspective recently unveiled the world’s first ‘space lounge’, which will be lifted to the edge of space by a giant balloon. Commercial flights are due to begin in late 2024.
World View has also unveiled its designs for a capsule that will fly passengers to the edge of space from 2024.
Images: Orbital Assembly Corporation
