Welcome to the space hotel Galactic Suite

William Atkins
Sunday, 12 August 2007 21:54

Science - Space

Microsoft Office 365

“Space is the next frontier to be transcended by an inquisitive mankind that continues the quest for answers and alternatives to the future of its evolution. We are not currently living in an era of changes but rather in a change of era, where private commercial space ventures will be able to push the boundaries of what we can do in space.”

“We are embarking upon an ambitious project on the space arena that, for the first time, will portray the most unknown and human side of one of the greatest challenges that has ever faced mankind. We aim to build the world’s first space resort in orbit by 2012.”

The three-day vacation onboard the outer space hotel is expected to cost around 4.15 million U.S. dollars (approximately 3 million euros), which includes the complete trip to and from the hotel in a space shuttle type vehicle, along with an eighteen-week training program (or, space camp) on a Caribbean island. The launch and landing facilities will also be located on this island.

The company’s founder, Spanish architect Xavier Claramunt, who is based in the city of Barcelona, has found one large investor for his venture who has invested three billion U.S. dollars. Other investors from the United States, United Arab Emirates, and Japan are also in talks with Claramunt.

Claramunt, a former aerospace engineer, and  U.S. engineers and architects have designed the space hotel so that each guest will stay in a three-bedroom suite that is launched from a space shuttle type vehicle and combined, once in orbit, with other suites already in space. Individual 23-foot-wide and 13-foot-high (7-meter wide and 4 meter-high) pods (rooms) are connected in a molecule-like structure. The central hub will be used to dock with the space shuttle and for attaching to all of the suites. The shape of the group is being compared to a bunch of grapes.

Guests can float in their pods or stick to its sides with Velcro®-like substances. The one suite (three pods) would be launched together. It would be combined with up to twenty-two suites connected to a central hub in a modular sequence.

Claranunt expects to position the hotel about 300 miles (483 kilometers) in orbit above the Earth.

Pictures of the proposed space hotel appears at: http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/008855.php and http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/xavier-claramunt?view=full.

Computer models and preliminary designs have been finished. However, Claramunt has not built anything yet. He is still in talks with additional investors. The name of his lone investor remains unknown at this time.

Claramunt’s company is called EQUIP. Founded in 1990, its expertise is in architecture and interior design, industrial design, and jewelry. The space hotel company, endeavouring to build the first hotel in outer space, is called Galactic Suite Limited, founded in 2007.

updated 8-15-07--author note.