First commercial space hotel to have low-gravity basketball, rock climbing: Reports
One company is catering to people's fascination with space by planning to build an enormous hotel for tourists who want to experience life beyond Earth's atmosphere.
The Gateway Foundation plans to build a rotating space station that will produce varying rates of artificial gravity, according to its website.
Utilizing existing technology from the International Space Station, the accommodations are geared toward guests who want to experience life in space but in the luxury and comfort of a hotel.
Activities on board will include low-gravity basketball, low-gravity trampolining and rock climbing, Tim Alatorre, senior design architect of the Von Braun Space Station, told architecture and design magazineDezeen.
Alatorre likened the travel experience to a cruise or going to Disney World, as it will also feature restaurants, bars, concerts, movie screenings and educational seminars.
The Von Braun Space Station will feature privately-owned modules used for villas, hotels or commercial activity as well as government-owned modules used for research, according to the proposal.
The company plans to be fully operational by 2025 with 100 tourists visiting weekly, according to Dezeen. While the wealthy will only be able to afford space travel at first, the eventual goal is to make the experience open to everyone, Alatorre said.
The Gateway Foundation isn't the only company aiming to widen the opportunity for space travel. In June, NASA announced that it hopes to open up the International Space Station to private astronauts by 2020.
