Space hotel to welcome guests by 2012

A Barcelona-based space tourism company, formed by various professionals in the aerospace industry, gave away the first details of its planned Galactic Suite space hotel, late last week.

The whole journey is likely to last 18 weeks, and the first tickets should go on sale in 2008 for around €3m, the company said.

The price includes almost 18 weeks preparation and training on a Caribbean island, the journey into space and three nights' accommodation in the orbital hotel.

During their stay, the space tourists will also "participate in international space experiments". The Galactic Suite Project has already contacted various scientific organisations interested in making use of the space tourists in zero gravity to obtain samples.

Visitors to the hotel will orbit the earth 15 times every day and see 15 sunrises, with the hotel located at a certain angle from the equator.

The company aims to develop an orbital hotel chain with modular space accommodation based on the model of a grapevine. The hotels will orbit the earth at an altitude of 450km and will welcome its first guests in 2012.

Naturally, in addition to the space hotel, Galactic Suite Project is also planning a hotel complex on a Caribbean island to accommodate the tourists, as well as on the space shuttles that will transport the space hotels.

According to the futuristically named, Xavier Claramunt and Marsal Gifra, directors of Galactic Suite Project, "This is the first package deal, as it includes transport from the tourist's home to the Caribbean island, the training required for journeys into orbit, the flight to the hotel and three nights' accommodation in the Galactic Suite."

The project was set up in Barcelona in January 2007 by various architects, aerospace engineers and industrial engineers from Spain and the US. The founders have already made initial contact with Japanese and UAE private investors interested in investing in the project.