Posted on 04/05/2018 3:47:08 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Well-heeled space tourists will have a new orbital destination four years from now, if one company's plans come to fruition.
That startup, called Orion Span, aims to loft its "Aurora Station" in late 2021 and begin accommodating guests in 2022.
"We are launching the first-ever affordable luxury space hotel," said Orion Span founder and CEO Frank Bunger, who unveiled the Aurora Station idea today (April 5) at the Space 2.0 Summit in San Jose, California.
"The goal when we started the company was to create that innovation to make simplicity possible, and by making simplicity possible, we drive a tremendous amount of cost out of it," he told Space.com.
Orion Span is building Aurora Station itself, Bunger added. The company — some of whose key engineering players have helped design and operate the ISS — is manufacturing the hotel in Houston and developing the software required to run it in the Bay Area, he said.
Aurora Station will be about the size of a large private jet's cabin. It'll measure 43.5 feet long by 14.1 feet wide (13.3 by 4.3 meters) and feature a pressurized volume of 5,650 cubic feet (160 cubic m), Orion Span representatives said. For comparison, the ISS is 357 feet (109 m) long and has an internal pressurized volume of 32,333 cubic feet (916 cubic m).
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Ad:
“Who’ll be the first to join the 100-Mile High Club?”
I think I’ll pass. Too many rockets blow up.
Of course, the first four disappear, but the 5th one winds up with one of the best conservative talking heads running security, so... Thanks BenLurkin.
Elysium?
i'm pretty sure it's already been done...
in the name of science.....
On another point who wants to be in a confined in a no gravity space anything with strangers,sounds like so much fun
to me, the only reason to go would be to join the club. it's my one fantasy, weightless sex
Its already been done and its called outercourse
I’ll wait until Christ returns and Raptures His Church out of the Earth. In our glorified bodies like He had when He walked out of the tomb on that first Easter morning, we won’t need any space gear.
Don’t go near the laundry chute!
Uh oh... Just wait until it’s taken over by the vermicious knids...
“Scram!”
$10 million plus for a stay! How many people are really going to pay that?
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