Several organizations are interested in creating space hotels, including Bigelow Aerospace, Hilton International, Excalibur Almaz, Virgin Galactic, and the Space Island Group. Bigelow Aerospace is furthest ahead, with plans to launch the Nautilus in 2010 and a $50 million space prize. The space tourism industry needs safe, affordable, and scalable flights to orbit. If successful, the space hotel market could be huge, with tourists attracted by the view of Earth and weightlessness.
There are currently two space hotels planned and a number of organizations expressing interest in the idea. The first space hotel, called the Nautilus, is likely to be launched by Bigelow Aerospace in 2010. Hilton International is working on the Space Islands Project, a scheme to connect spent space shuttle fuel tanks to create a large space station. When it was originally conceived in 1999, the hope was to launch it by 2005, but the price tag of $6-$12 billion US dollars (USD) has held the project back for now.
Excalibur Almaz, a private company based in the Isle of Man, has plans to modernize and revitalize the Soviet-era Almaz space stations for commercial purposes. Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin and Virgin Galactic, which is building a spaceport in New Mexico for suborbital flights, said he wants to see a Virgin space hotel in his lifetime. Another organization, the Space Island Group, wants to commercialize space through satellites and solar-powered hotels.
By a significant margin, furthest ahead in their project is Bigelow Aerospace, which has launched two experimental modules and has made a $50 million dollar space prize available to anyone who can develop a reusable vehicle to carry passengers to and from to a space station. Current commercial craft, such as Scaled Composites X-Prize-winning SpaceShipOne, are designed only for suborbital flights, barely touching the lower edge of space, and only for a few minutes. For a viable space tourism industry to emerge, flights to orbit must be made safe, affordable, and scalable. Currently, it is neither of those things.
If the technical and economic hurdles can be overcome, the space hotel market could become huge. Informal surveys conducted by Hilton International indicate that most tourists would like to visit the space if the price drops. Among the main attractions would be the fantastic view of the Earth – visible 24/7 – and the experience of weightlessness, which has been described by astronauts as magical.
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