Russia to Build Orbiting Hotel for Space Tourists


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MOSCOW ? A Russian company on Wednesday announced an ambitious bid to fill the vacuum in the space tourism market by stationing an orbiting hotel in the cosmos.

The Moscow-based Orbital Technologies has sky-high hopes that its planned Commercial Space Station can serve as a tourism hub for well-heeled travelers and offer overspill accommodation for the International Space Station and workspace for science projects.

But it's unlikely to come anytime soon -- the company wants to launch a seven-room station by 2016 but may increase or decrease that capacity based on customer demand.

It also remained unclear whether the state-controlled RKK Energia company, named as the general contractor for the project, would have enough funds and capacities to carry out the plan. Energia builds Soyuz crew capsules and Progress cargo ships to deliver space crew and supplies to the International Space Station, which will be the only link to space after planned retirement of the U.S. shuttle fleet next year.

Sergey Kostenko, Orbital Technologies' chief executive, told The Associated Press in an interview that the planned station would be "a comfortable hotel in orbit, designed specifically for tourists."

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it will be more comfortable than the International Space Station because there won't be any unnecessary scientific equipment," he said.

Until now, space tourists -- a handful of megarich CEOs and philanthropists -- have had to suffer the indignity of hitching a ride with astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station and float around the space laboratory trying not to break anything.

On a Commercial Space Station they would have a place to gawk at the view in private. The design is still being worked out, but some sketches released by Orbital Technologies resemble the International Space Station.

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Vapourware space station never gonna happen!!!

Why do you think it's a vaporware?

Do you doubt the Russian expertise in building space stations?

There's definitely a market for space tourism as well since at least 7 people have already paid the Russian space agency something between $20-35 mil for a trip.

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For now, but over time it will get more affordable.

Even if its true, normal regular folks will not be able to afford it in at least 100 years or so. Remember the first airlines to travel to other countries? at that time also was only available for the rich.

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Even if its true, normal regular folks will not be able to afford it in at least 100 years or so. Remember the first airlines to travel to other countries? at that time also was only available for the rich.

Actually it didn't take more than 20-30 years for plane travel to be something affordable.

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