The question remains: will hospitality ever leave Earth’s atmosphere? Hamish Kilburn gets us up to speed on the latest cosmic race to launch hotels in space. Could space tourism be the next frontier in global travel?
For decades, space exploration has been the exclusive realm of astronauts, scientists and government agencies. Yet, even before 2020, space enthusiasts and industry experts predicted that hotels in space were just around the corner. Philippe Starck, the renowned designer, even released concept renders of a space hotel that stirred the imagination. More recently, some have pegged 2025 as the target date for the first hotel lobby to lift off.
However, as the years pass, the long-awaited interstellar travel experience remains tantalisingly out of reach. Despite the efforts of billionaires such as Elon Musk and Richard Branson, the question persists: will hospitality ever truly take to space, or are we simply witnessing a media spectacle brimming with PR spin and clickbait headlines?
In the last few years, a number of companies have unveiled plans for orbital resorts, offering guests the chance to experience weightlessness and unparalleled views of Earth from above. Among the most ambitious is Voyager Station, a rotating space hotel by Orbital Assembly Corporation, which promises to accommodate up to 400 guests. Announced in 2022, the project has yet to break ground, and though its plans remain fixed, the company has shifted focus to a more immediate endeavour: Pioneer Station. This compact space hotel, designed to house just 28 guests, could be operational sooner than its larger counterpart.
Image credit: Axiom Space / Hilton
Meanwhile, in a groundbreaking collaboration, last year Hilton joined forces with Starlab, a space station project developed by Axiom Space, to create a luxurious, ‘world-class experience’ for future space travellers. As part of this ambitious initiative, Hilton will design ‘innovative interiors’ that allow guests aboard the station to enjoy the comforts of home amid the unique challenges of life in space. The partnership aims to fuse Hilton’s renowned design expertise with the specific demands of a zero-gravity environment, promising a seamless blend of high-end luxury and practicality.
This venture is hardly a surprise, considering the hotel group’s longstanding fascination with space hospitality. As early as the 1960s, just two years before Neil Armstrong’s historic moon landing, Hilton proposed plans for a space hotel. Dubbed Lunar Hilton, the project envisioned 100 rooms beneath the Moon’s surface, complete with spaceship-like keys and an observation dome offering breathtaking views of Earth. Barron Hilton, the company’s President at the time, conceived this underground refuge as a way to counter the Moon’s extreme temperatures. While the project never came to fruition, Hilton’s commitment to space-based hospitality has remained unwavering, culminating in the Starlab partnership today.
Image credit: Vast
The latest player in this stellar rivalry making waves comes in the form of Haven-1, the world’s first commercial space station. It is set to launch into low-Earth orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon rocket later this year. By 2026, the first paying guests are anticipated to experience life in orbit, in what promises to be a ‘lavish and homely environment’, far from the gravitational pull of Earth.
The interior design scheme of Haven-1 is what sets it aside to other concepts. It has been designed to evoke warmth and elegance, featuring fine-grained maple wood, a favourite material of contemporary designers. This subtle touch not only adds visual appeal but also helps create a soothing, familiar atmosphere, bridging the vast, uncharted territory of space with the comforts of home. With the modern traveller demanding more wellness touchpoints, guests can expect a level of relaxation that is rare in the otherwise sterile environment of zero gravity.
Vast, the company behind Haven-1, goes further by addressing one of the biggest challenges of life in orbit: rest. The station features a plush space duvet designed to ensure a good night’s sleep – a feat far from easy in a gravity-free atmosphere. This thoughtful touch may prove vital to ensuring that guests get quality rest as they orbit the planet, and leave a decent review when checking out.
Vast is a Southern California-based startup founded by Jed McCaleb, a crypto billionaire best known for turning Mt. Gox into the world’s first major Bitcoin exchange in 2010. With a net worth of $2.9 billion, according to Forbes, McCaleb founded Vast in 2021 with the lofty goal of developing artificial gravity space stations.
The team behind Vast is no less impressive. It includes industry veterans such as Kyle Dedmon, former Vice President of construction at SpaceX; Tom Hayford, a systems engineer who previously worked at both Relativity Space and SpaceX; Molly McCormick, a former human factors engineer at SpaceX; and Colin Smith, a former propulsion engineer at SpaceX. Together, they bring decades of experience and ambition to Vast’s mission to revolutionise space living.
As the competition heats up – Relatively Space just announced a new CEO, meaning even more plot twists may be on the horizon – one thing is clear: the idea of luxury hospitality beyond Earth is no longer just science fiction. Whether or not we’ll soon be booking rooms to be among the stars remains to be seen. However, with companies like Vast, Hilton and Orbital Assembly Corporation pushing the architectural and scientific boundaries, the dream of space tourism may be closer to reality than ever before – just how far are you willing to travel?
> Since you’re here, why not read Tour Nuanu Creative City, a new tourism district closer to home?
Main image credit: Von Braun Space Station
