Russland bereitet vor, das erste Raumhotel zu starten

The first project of the interstellar hotel will be developed by RSC Energia and Russian company “Orbital Technologies”. The hotel may be launched into the orbit in late 2015 – early 2016. Its volume would be approximately 20 cubic meters and it can accommodate seven people at one time. Passengers of the station will be able to spend in the space from a few days to a year.

The first space hotel will consist of four cabins, accommodating also the crew members besides the tourists. The hotel will be used not only for business purposes, it will also be equipped for scientific programs. Orbital hotel will be able to dock with spacecrafts Soyuz and Progress – say the developers.

According to Alexei Krasnov, head of the Russian Space Agency's manned space programs, besides the tourists the hotel will be able to take the ISS crew members if needed – such as during the repair of the station. Thus, the proposed hotel could be an important starting point for manned missions.

According to the project, the comfort of the hotel should not yield to ordinary terrestrial hotel. Exact parameters of rooms and their equipment are not yet known, but it is already clear that such trip would be very expensive.

Roskosmos shows interest to this development. The head of Russian Space Agency Vitaly Davydov noted: “The proposed project is extremely interesting. It will enable the private sector to participate in this unique beginning, as well as attract private investment into the Russian space industry”, – quotes agency RIA Novosti.

Meanwhile, the idea of space hotel is not brand new. It is known that such projects have been developed for a long time in the USA by Bigelow Aerospace, which has already conducted test launches of hotels in 2006–2007.