Elon Musk’s SpaceX could make Jeff Bezos’ $28 million space hotel vacation a reality

For centuries, humanity has pursued the unknown—crossing oceans, climbing the highest peaks, and breaking the sound barrier to explore the skies. Today, that pioneering spirit is once again propelling society toward new horizons: outer space. What was once the exclusive domain of national space agencies and a select group of trained astronauts is now evolving into an industry led by private enterprise. Fueled by immense technological advancements and billionaire-driven innovation, space is no longer a final frontier—it is becoming a destination. With efforts to make commercial space travel as routine as international flights, a bold new concept is emerging: luxury hotels in orbit. Among these, Voyager Station stands out as the world’s first planned space hotel, set to welcome guests as early as 2027.

Voyager Station is a pioneering project being developed by Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC), a private aerospace startup headquartered in Sacramento, California. The station is envisioned as a rotating space structure capable of accommodating 280 guests and 112 crew members at once. This revolutionary facility aims to deliver all the comfort and extravagance expected of a premium resort—restaurants, bars, a cinema, a fitness center, and even a concert venue—only this time, in low Earth orbit.
OAC’s ambition is not just limited to comfort; it extends to redefining the experience of space living. Their primary goal is to make long-duration stays in space feasible for tourists, researchers, and commercial operators by introducing artificial gravity, a major breakthrough in space habitation.

The most unique feature of Voyager Station is its rotating wheel-shaped design. This concept, dating back to the early 20th century and later refined by Wernher von Braun, uses centrifugal force to generate artificial gravity. OAC plans to create gravity levels comparable to the Moon (1/6th of Earth’s gravity) initially, with the flexibility to increase to Mars-like gravity or even full Earth gravity, depending on guest adaptability.
Guests will first arrive at a central zero-gravity docking hub before traveling to the rotating outer modules using specialized elevator systems. These modules—24 in total—will comprise 125,000 square feet of usable space. Apart from hotel suites, they will include luxury villas, retail stores, research laboratories, and even entertainment venues.
The company is also constructing two ground-based prototype modules, the Gravity Ring and Pioneer Station, to test the feasibility of artificial gravity environments before full-scale orbital deployment.

Transporting guests to Voyager Station will be one of the major logistical challenges. Currently, space travel for civilians is expensive. For instance, a seat on a Blue Origin suborbital flight alongside Jeff Bezos in 2021 was auctioned for $28 million. However, the cost of space travel is expected to decrease as reusable launch systems become more efficient and widespread.
Launch providers like SpaceX are developing powerful and cost-effective vehicles such as the Starship and Super Heavy booster, which could be instrumental in making commercial space travel more accessible. While SpaceX is not officially partnered with OAC for this project, the company acknowledged Voyager Station’s ambitious goal with curiosity and even expressed interest on social media in offering transportation services once the station is operational.

Despite the high initial costs, OAC maintains that the long-term viability of Voyager Station hinges on mass adoption and scalable transport. The company’s leadership, including Chief Operating Officer Tim Alatorre, remains optimistic. Alatorre stated in an interview with The New York Times that the goal is to make space tourism a “matter of preference, not affordability.”
In line with this goal, the station’s commercial infrastructure will include luxury residences, industrial space, and research labs, catering to more than just tourists. This mixed-use approach is expected to provide multiple revenue streams—tourism, commercial leasing, and scientific experimentation.

Voyager Station is currently scheduled for launch and operation by 2027, pending successful construction and orbital testing of essential technologies. OAC has already begun foundational work on components such as:

If timelines are met, OAC’s next steps will include orbital assembly, followed by partial module testing in space, and then full-scale operation.

While Voyager Station holds incredible promise, several challenges remain:

Furthermore, securing consistent launch access from providers like SpaceX or other aerospace players remains critical for the station’s supply chain and guest turnover.

Voyager Station represents a larger trend in the commercialization of space. Alongside ventures like Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX, Orbital Assembly’s hotel concept signifies a shift from government-dominated space exploration to privately-funded space living.
With increasing public interest and investment, the idea of vacationing in space, once considered science fiction, is inching closer to reality. Beyond tourism, such projects also lay the groundwork for interplanetary colonization and long-term space research.