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Space Hotel to Open in 2012

Posted by Zonk on Sat Aug 11, 2007 02:27 AM
from the l5-or-l4 dept.
Space Businesses The Almighty Buck
blackdefiance writes "The New York Times is reporting that firm plans for the first hotel in space are now in the works. Slated for a 2012 opening, 'Galactic Suite' will cost about $4 million for a three-day stay. 'They may have solved the issue of how to take a shower in weightlessness -- the guests will enter a spa room in which bubbles of water will float around. When guests are not admiring the view from their portholes they will take part in scientific experiments on space travel. Galactic Suite began as a hobby for former aerospace engineer Claramunt, until a space enthusiast decided to make the science fiction fantasy a reality by fronting most of the $3 billion needed to build the hotel. An American company intent on colonizing Mars, which sees Galaxy Suite as a first step, has since come on board, and private investors from Japan, the United States and the United Arab Emirates are in talks.'"
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Submission: Space hotel to open in 2012 by blackdefiance (142579)
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  • 2012? Damn. (Score:4, Funny)

    by OmgTEHMATRICKS (836103) on Saturday August 11 2007, @02:33AM (#20193439) Journal
    The new space hotel sounds great, but a flight to space conflicts with the part of my schedule where I'm slated to die during the apocalypse.
    • The sooner the better and this little room in the sky will give people a healthy perspective on the BIG PICTURE, and how we each need each other, how beautiful the earth is, how we each need the same things, and how similar each culture is.

      This small step will help open the flood gates similar to when ships set sail in the maritime revolution, and bars and inns sprang up in new ports all over the world.

      We talk about this and how ROBOTS will soon be doing ALL our work ushering in what we call

      The Age of [teaminfinity.com]

        • If that were true, it wouldn't matter where you were, as long as you were still in the universe.

          ...and What happens in the universe, stays in the universe.

      • But then, if the Christians disappear as they say they will, wouldn't it mean that they were right? And there would be an Antichrist and a Great Tribulation? If only Christians disappear, it infers that their POV is the correct one, everyone else is wrong, and things go bad quickly.

  • About time (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Eesu (903236)
    Its about time some private people and companies start taking a major interest in space.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by drooling-dog (189103)
      Yes, and since private companies will face none of the safety and testing issues that folks like NASA have to contend with, they should be able to just slap this together and start shuttling paying tourists up there in no time. I'm surprised it's even going to take 5 years!

  • Skeptical (Score:5, Insightful)

    by FleaPlus (6935) on Saturday August 11 2007, @02:51AM (#20193505) Homepage Journal
    Despite being a pretty hardcore private space proponent, I'm rather skeptical about this. I could be wrong, but it seems that all Claramunt has is a design and backing from an anonymous funding source. Meanwhile, Bigelow Aerospace [wikipedia.org] has a couple of working prototypes in orbit right now, and by 2012 plans to lease entire orbital facilities for $88 million/year (or $18 million for an 2-month stay).

    Also, I'm guessing the cited figure of "$4 million for a three-day stay" doesn't include the cost of getting to orbit in the first place. For a Soyuz flight, that's at least $20 million per person.
    • The cost is staggering, but hey, there are a helluva lot worse ways to spend 45 million dollars for those that have the resources.

      • Regarding your sig: "Morality is doing the right thing; ethics is doing the right thing even when you know no one is watching you."

        So, we could say that paranoid people are the only people who are ethical by nature :-)

        • I guess that's one way of looking at it. By the way, how did you get my email address, are you the CIA again?
          :)
    • I am guessing that the article is talking about bigelow's. Keep in mind that bigelow will sell a module for 100 million (and that was the ba-330) in 2005 money. But the 3 man version is suppose to be in orbit around 2010-2011 and is known as the Galaxy. Bigelow is probably looking to get one of the galaxies attached to the ISS for a year or 2 (you did notice the attempt to allow private enterprise to make use of the ISS). Later, it will be replaced with a BA-330. After that time, they will be leasing AND
      • > Yes, but who's going to pay to enter an inflatable when he could get inside the real thing for the same price?

        Huh? What do you mean by "real thing"?

  • Maybe the just want investors (Score:5, Funny)

    by backslashdot (95548) on Saturday August 11 2007, @02:53AM (#20193507)
    Just because they don't have a practical idea doesn't mean they can't rip off investors.
  • Do they have valet parking?
    • Does it have blackjack and hookers?
    • Hotel Employee: "Hello and welcome to the Space Hotel, are you checking in?"
      Guest: "Yes, name is Wilson"
      Employee: "Ok great, let me find you on the computer, this will just take a second {clickity clickity clack clack click clack...)"
      Employee: "Hmmm, and your reservation was for today?"
      Guest: "Yes"
      Employee: "Ok, hold on, (click clack clickity click...)"
      Employee: "Hm. Uh, how do you spell Wilson?"
      Guest: "W I L S O N"
      Employee: "Yes, that's what I was trying, but I just don't see it. Do you have your confirm

  • Vaporware (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Lon Star (998458) on Saturday August 11 2007, @03:17AM (#20193589)
    I'm surprised how much play this story is getting considering how little evidence there is that this is little more than someone's joke design project for fun. Especially when there is another, more legitimate company like Bigelow Aerospace that also intends on having a private space station by 2012 but can back that up with TWO test modules actually in space and actually has a manufacturing facility.

    I mean, the reporter takes their word for it when they say some American who they can't name is giving them $3 billion. I figure I could got to the same reporter and say someone is giving me a couple billion to build the world's biggest saussage and it will make the headlines the next day.

    Not sure how much competition to Bigelow they really are, and I also have doubts about their $3 billion funding figure. I think we need more proof than their word.

    Bigelow has: - A manufacturing plans currently building the modules for its stations - A corporate structure - Two test modules currently in space - A concrete business plan - More than 100 employees

    Galactic Suite has: - A Web site with nice illustrations. Though its strange title font looks like it was done in Microsoft Paint.

    This seems like little more than a nice Web site and fancy illustrations. Galactic Suite also seems to indicate it would use the Space Shuttle for construction, which would be news to NASA, which plans to put the orbiters in the Smithsonian by 2010.

    Seems like more vaporware to me. I'd rather put my money on Bigelow to build the first private space station.

    Bigelow put up some cool, REAL pictures from space on this page: http://bigelowaerospace.com/out_there/view_photos. php [bigelowaerospace.com].

    • There, fixed it for ya...
    • Sir! I think that a flabbergastingly preposterous accusation! I have seen these resplendently detailed plans with my very own eyes!

      I will be most delighted to share them with you: Behold! [venganza.org]

      PS. Please address checks to "My Kool Space Howse", P.O Box...

  • 2012? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SageMusings (463344) on Saturday August 11 2007, @03:17AM (#20193591) Journal
    3 megabucks per passenger would not pay for it even if they had the lift and an orbiting facility. Gosh, 2012? It is going to take longer just to figure out cheaper launch vehicles. Also the first time a rich "astro-tourist" gets killed (1st or 2nd flight), the whole operation sinks.

  • Wait... (Score:3, Funny)

    by iamdrscience (541136) <[michaelmtripp] [at] [gmail.com]> on Saturday August 11 2007, @03:45AM (#20193713) Homepage
    How will they keep the mints from floating off the pillows?
  • Okay, I could imagine that *maybe* there are people willing to pay that much to stay in a space hotel. The problem is, what good is having a luxury space hotel suite if you can't hire strippers to dance in it, much less drink champagne in your hot tub with them. Face it folks, besides watching all your friends vomit, weightlessness is no fun.
  • What a way to spend money!

    Earn in Earth.Spend in Space !!

    (c) :)
  • You get a username/password dialog box. WTF?
  • I, for one, welcome our new Vermicious Knid overlords.

  • what are guests paying for? (Score:5, Funny)

    by 3seas (184403) on Saturday August 11 2007, @06:44AM (#20194347) Homepage Journal
    Eight weeks of training at a james bond style camp on a tropical island.

    and while up in space for three days...
    During that time guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day...

    costing $4 million for a three-day stay.

    and then there is a bill correction afterward..

    15 sunrises a day for three days = 45 sunrises.

    I'm sorry sir, according to our corrected calculations you were up there for more than 3 days...

    45 days to be correct.

    At 4 million per three days that comes to $60 million dollars.

    here is you after bill of $56 million.

    Now its beginning to make financial since...
  • DJ Ruby Rhod!

  • 4 million? (Score:3, Funny)

    by rdean400 (322321) on Saturday August 11 2007, @08:15AM (#20194743)
    Sheesh, where's PriceLine when you need it?
  • I think this is one of the first steps for a human presence in space. In many ways it follows how international airflight became economical. With that said, there are a couple of issues.

    Firstly, unlike international flights, there is no ultimate functional destination (yet). The only reason to be there currently is because you have money to waste. Other business ventures need to be set up to create a supportable ecosystem. Two other businesses that may be sensible would be: research, though getting the gove
  • Can we PLEASE spend some of the money we are currently wasting in Iraq on something like this?
  • ....what to do about the vermicious knids?

  • This NY Times article came from Reuters.
    Here is the original article:
    http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL10 89156420070810?pageNumber=2&sp=true [reuters.com]
    No registration required to see this.

  • Disgusting (Score:3, Insightful)

    by g0at (135364) <ben@@@zygoat...ca> on Saturday August 11 2007, @03:55PM (#20197879) Homepage Journal
    We have high death tolls and squalid conditions in developing nations, yet American billionaires have their heads so far up their asses that they'd rather piss about their wealth on an esoteric toy of value to a statistically negligible number of people. Sad.

    b
    • "Fly me to the moon" is just the headline of the story and the name of a song; it does not, in fact, have anything to do with the location of the hotel. The hotel would probably be built in low earth orbit.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by slobarnuts (666254)
      holy crap, they were not even talking about on the moon. They were talking orbital. $3 Billion is not enough to build a hotel, considering the ISS is cost at least 1 BILLION dollars per year to operate.

      • Re:Bull (Score:4, Interesting)

        by FleaPlus (6935) on Saturday August 11 2007, @04:29AM (#20193839) Homepage Journal

        holy crap, they were not even talking about on the moon. They were talking orbital. $3 Billion is not enough to build a hotel, considering the ISS is cost at least 1 BILLION dollars per year to operate.
        As I've mentioned in another comment, Bigelow Aerospace already has a couple of one-third-size habitat prototypes in orbit right now, and he's stated that he doesn't plan to spend a total of more than $400 million on the project over the next several years.

        Keep in mind that most of the $1.8 billion annual cost of the ISS [wikipedia.org] is spent on space shuttle flight operations. Of course, since the space shuttle is used almost exclusively for the ISS, a good part of the $4 billion a year it costs to keep the shuttles running should probably be added to that as well. In any case, NASA's ISS spending figure isn't a good indicator of how much it would cost to run a for-profit orbital habitat.
    • You forget that the majority of present day space vehicles are in fact built by private sector companies: Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Arianne, Energia and so on. NASA doesn't have factories.
    • They are putting up a hotel, not putting up a building. Almost certainly, it will use the bigelow modules. Roughly, Bob Bigelow is selling westerners who can actually buy the modules what to use these for. Bob will also have 1 hotel up there, but would like to see some competition up there. If more groups announce that they are building hotels up there AND on the moon, then private enterprise will rush in to fill the void. As I said on another posting, I believe that private enterprise will be on the moon b
    • Large number of folks back in the 60's believed that we would never survive a landing on the moon. Many of them believed that it was 10' of dust. So a number of common folks who fancied themselves as experts were announcing that we could not land on the moon. After we did, then they said that it must have been a trick. I am guessing that long after we have started a colony on mars, ppl like you will declare that it was all a trick.

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