Ultra-wealthy tourists will have a new destination four years from now if NASA’s plans come to fruition.
The space agency recently announced plans to build the first commercial hotel in space – complete with a large window to view the earth!
NASA has selected startup Axiom Space of Houston to provide a habitable module to be attached to the International Space Station (ISS) by 2024.
The selection is a significant step toward the agency’s efforts to open the station for commercial use.
The Trump administration has announced plans to scrap support for the ISS by 2025.
The one-of-a-kind space hotel will be a zero gravity-friendly “nest-like cabin” with “unobstructed views of Earth,” according to the Axiom Space website.
“There will be Wi-Fi,” says Mike Suffredini, the NASA veteran who is now CEO of Axiom Space. “Everybody will be online. They can make phone calls, sleep, look out the window.”
Promising accommodations worthy of the setting, the designers are aiming for an astronomically wealthy clientele.
The Axiom station will have handholds, but they will be gold-plated or wrapped in soft leather, like the steering wheel of a luxury car.
The cost of the otherworldly room will be equally astronomical. You’ll have to shell out a whopping $50 million for a ticket!
“Pretty soon we’re going to be flying a butler with every crew,” says Suffredini.