No, it doesn’t offer a seaside or a Mountain panorama. But arguably, the ambitious Aurora Station space hotel, will offer the best views in town — planet Earth itself.
Orion Span, a private US space tourism company, has ambitiously announced it will open a luxury space hotel by 2021.
The exclusive hotel will host six people at a time – including two crew members.
The 12-day authentic astronaut experience starts at US$9.5m per person.
Deposits are now being accepted for a future stay on Aurora Station, which is slated to launch in late 2021 and host its first guests in 2022. The fully refundable deposit is $80,000 per person and can be reserved online here.
“We developed Aurora Station to provide a turnkey destination in space. Upon launch, Aurora Station goes into service immediately, bringing travelers into space quicker and at a lower price point than ever seen before, while still providing an unforgettable experience,” said Frank Bunger, chief executive officer and founder of Orion Span.
“Orion Span has additionally taken what was historically a 24-month training regimen to prepare travelers to visit a space station and streamlined it to three months, at a fraction of the cost. Our goal is to make space accessible to all, by continuing to drive greater value at lower cost.”
Four months worth of reservations have already been secured since Orion Span made the hotel announcement earlier this week, according to a recent Twitter update issued by the company.
We are thrilled to announce that we’ve booked 4 months worth of reservations within only 72 hours of Aurora Station’s announcement. Join us! https://t.co/ILGljAql1x #AuroraStation #OrionSpan pic.twitter.com/y4hFJzwcYk
— Orion Span (@OrionSpan) April 9, 2018
All visitors to Aurora Station are required to complete mandatory training in advance of their visit. Orion Span has taken what was historically a 24-month program for visitors to a space station and streamlined it to only 3 months, with a significant portion of those 3 months done online.
Training leads to the prestigious Orion Span Astronaut Certification, a certification that may be possible to use with other space entities in the future.
During their stay on Aurora Station, travelers will enjoy the exhilaration of zero gravity and fly freely throughout Aurora Station, gaze at the northern and southern aurora through the many windows, soar over their hometowns, take part in research experiments such as growing food while in orbit (which they can take home with them as the ultimate souvenir), revel in a virtual reality experience on the holodeck, and stay in touch or live stream with their loved ones back home via high-speed wireless Internet access.
While in space, Aurora Station guests will soar 200 miles above the Earth’s surface in Low Earth Orbit, or LEO, where they will find stunning views of the Earth. The hotel will orbit Earth every 90 minutes, meaning those aboard will see an average of 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours. On return to Earth, guests will be treated to a hero’s welcome home.
