While many companies are planning to offer trips for humans to space, Russia is planning to put up a luxury hotel there and the rooms just might offer the best view one can ever ask for.
Russia’s own space agency, Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, is planning to build a 20-ton and 51-foot long luxury hotel on the International Space Station (ISS), a space station or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. However, the hotel is not for everyone, as a stay for a week or two would cost $40 million with an extra $20 million if the customer desires to go on a spacewalk with a cosmonaut.
According to Popular Mechanics, a detailed proposal revealed about the news and also stated that Russian space contractor RKK Energia made up the strategy to be able to pay for the construction of the second component it is building, which will cost between $279 and $446 million.
The contractor is already constructing the first component that will be a science laboratory and power supply station. Though the second component was initially a part of the project, the Russian government is only paying for the first one. Russia plans to send the first module by 2021.
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Reportedly, the inside of the tourist module will contain four sleeping quarters that would be almost two cubic meters each with 9-inch windows. There will be two medical and hygiene stations and a lounge area with a 16-inch window. Apart from that, the hotel will also have exercise equipment and Wi-Fi technology.
RKK Energia has planned about how to pay for the modules. They want to book minimum 12 wealthy passengers willing to pay $4 million in advance followed by two $12.6 million payments throughout the two years leading up to the actual flight. The final $10.8 million will be paid just before the launch, reported Futurism.
However, there are few complications, one of them being that the ISS will retire in 2028 and the hotel should be build before that. The contractors believe that the hotel module will reach the ISS by 2022 but would require at least seven years to make back its building costs and if the ISS retired on time, the contractors won’t have adequate time to make a profit.