A start-up, Orion Span, claims it will be able to place a commercial space station into orbit by 2022, which will have the first luxury space hotel. Orion believes that there is a strong demand for orbital space tourism. The company plans to develop a modular and expandable station called Aurora.
It will be about the size of a large private jet’s cabin and house six people, including two crew members. Orion Span plans to offer 12-day trips to its station for $9.5 million. This includes three months of pre-flight training as well as transportation to and from the station. Orion Span plans to build the Aurora Station module itself at a factory in Houston.
The ticket cost is lower than cost of space tourism till now. Passengers have paid as much as $35 million to take a weeklong trip to the International Space Station on a Russian spacecraft, after spending six months in training. The last such passenger flew in 2009.
The venture is currently self-funded, with support from two angel investors and is looking at raising funds through a round of funding.