Twitter Dunks on Newly Announced Space Hotel

Good news everyone! While the pandemic has canceled most of our travel plans, soon we will be able to vacation in the stars with the galaxy’s first-ever space hotel. The Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC) announced plans to begin building the hotel, named Voyager Station, in low Earth orbit in 2025, with an eye towards opening for business in 2027.

Artwork of the Voyager Station features individual pods attached to a rotating wheel, with tubes connecting the different areas forming an X. It looks like a cross between the International Space Station and the London Eye observation wheel. The 400-person luxury resort will feature several onboard amenities, including restaurants, a spa, a cinema, gyms, libraries, concert venues, Earth-viewing lounges and bars, as well as crew quarters, air, water, and power will also take up a portion of the space facility. The Voyager Station is set to circle the globe every 90 minutes, with a rotation that will generate artificial gravity that resembles the gravity on the surface of the moon.

The OAC has not released a public budget for the cost of the hotel, but they are currently looking for investors, like government agencies that could use the hotel for research purposes or as a training center for astronauts. “This will be the next industrial revolution,” said John Blincow, the founder of Gateway Foundation, which is working with the OAC to launch the hotel.

But don’t start packing that space luggage just yet: Voyager Station is still looking for investors, and if/when it does launch, it will likely be prohibitively expensive for 99 percent of the world. Also, the timeline to build this behemoth seems way too fast. There’s a La Quinta in my area that has been under construction for nearly a decade, so I’m not holding out hope for a pop-up space hotel anytime soon.

Twitter was quick to dunk on the space hotel, citing its privileged customer base and the myriad of problems that kind of money could solve on Earth:

If you had the money, would you book a room on the Voyager Station? Let us know in the comments!

(via Daily Mail, featured image: screencap/The Gateway Foundation)

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Chelsea Steiner

Chelsea was born and raised in New Orleans, which explains her affinity for cheesy grits and Britney Spears. An pop culture journalist since 2012, her work has appeared on Autostraddle, AfterEllen, and more. Her beats include queer popular culture, film, television, republican clownery, and the unwavering belief that 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' is the greatest movie ever made. She currently resides in sunny Los Angeles, with her husband, 2 sons, and one poorly behaved rescue dog. She is a former roller derby girl and a black belt in Judo, so she is not to be trifled with. She loves the word “Jewess” and wishes more people used it to describe her.

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