Orbital Assembly Corporation is expected to start constructing the Voyager Station in 2025. It could be fully operational by 2027. (Image Credit: Orbital Assembly Corporation)
It’s an exciting time for space enthusiasts! It’s about time too. It’s 2021 after all, the much promoted future.
Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC) has unveiled plans to construct the world’s first space hotel, called the Voyager Station, in low Earth orbit in 2025. The space station is expected to operate with artificial gravity and feature restaurants, cinemas, a spa, concert venues, viewing lounges, bars, libraries, gyms, and rooms for 400 people. A fleet of patented in-space assembly robots is expected to build the VSS, which could be fully operational by 2027.
The idea here is to have the 650-foot wide wheel-shaped Voyager Station rotate with a high angular velocity to generate levels of artificial gravity similar to the moon for occupants. Overall, the plan is for it to accommodate 300 visitors (astronauts, scientists, business travelers, long-term residents, and tourists) and 100 crew members.
Voyager station can accommodate 400 people. (Image Credit: Orbital Assembly Corporation)
Voyager’s concept also includes twenty-four integrated habitation modules measuring 60 feet long and 40 feet wide. Along with that, it features functional showers and toilets. Occupants can jump and jog in fun and unique ways. However, before the Voyager Station starts rotating, its developers need to establish the required orbital infrastructure and build small structures to test the concept.
Currently, the plan is to construct the space station in stages. It starts with a small-scale prototype along with a free-flying microgravity station. Both of these are expected to use Voyager components. Later on, a Structure Truss Assembly Robot (STAR) builds the Voyager and Gateway stations’ frames in orbit. Before this occurs, DSTAR, a ground-based prototype, is going to test the technology on Earth. STAR is set to be the first to construct a space station in low-Earth orbit. It also serves as the structural backbone of future projects in space. The robot is currently being commissioned and shipped. Afterward, the plan is to complete and test it in California.
Voyager Station features restaurants, bars, cinemas, a spa, concert venue, and much more. (Image Credit: Orbital Assembly Corporation)
The company also says it’s developing a robotic observer drone that can fly, perch on existing craft, be reusable, and have a free-flight mode on extended missions. It serves as the eyes on the job site.
Before guests can come aboard and live on the Voyager Space Station, OAC must test constructing a station in low-Earth orbit and ensure artificial gravity is stable in space. OAC is planning on creating a 200-foot prototype gravity ring designed to rotate upwards. This generates gravity nearly similar to Mars’. The gravity ring, which takes two to three years to develop and launch, serves as a near-term-demonstrator. It’s only expected to take 3 days to assemble once it’s in orbit. Additionally, the gravity ring serves as OAC’s test base for the majority of technologies being used to build Voyager.
International space agencies and private aerospace companies could use the gravity ring to study how artificial gravity affects living and non-living systems. In the future, government and private companies can use Voyager’s modules to prepare for missions on the moon.
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