Space Tourism: They seek to make the first Hotel in Space
It is expected that by the year 2027 the first hotel establishment in outer space suitable for the transit of tourists will be established.
The SUTUS 2022 day has shown that space tourism is closer than ever. Representatives of the most important International Space Agencies such as Sam Scimemi from NASA or Hiroko Asakura from JAXA; the International Space University with Pascale Ehrenfreund; and international references from the space world such as Susan Kilrain, retired astronaut, Nancy Vermeulen, private astronaut trainer, Bernard Foing, from EuroMoonMars; or the first space accommodation for tourists have been protagonists in this second day of SUTUS by Les Roches.
Spacial tourism
The American Space Agency was represented by Sam Scimemi, Special Assistant; Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate NASA. Scimemi has advanced NASA's most ambitious plans in the very near future: "The Artemis Program aims to return to the Moon and land the first woman in 2025."
This ambitious goal is joined by an even more daunting goal: "As an ultimate goal, we are building the Gateway to have greater access to the lunar service, both for government and commercial activities, and to provide a platform for missions to Mars."
Getting to Mars is also the ultimate goal of Euro Moon Mars, a project headed by Bernard Foing who has been working for 10 years on training young professionals to investigate and become astronauts. It seeks to explore the orbital station and even go to Mars.
Accommodation in space
Euro Moon Mars is an initiative to build a sustainable exploration ecosystem. Their goal is to prepare for a sustainable presence on the Moon, with a habitat and human and robotic collaboration.
The implementation of a lunar village is quite a challenge for Foing for different reasons. For the objective to be fulfilled, it is necessary to arrive, survive, operate, communicate, move to explore, etc. But if that first stage is passed safely, it will be a great opportunity for the development of space tourism.
The Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) has also advanced its next goals in SUTUS 22 at the hands of Hiroko Asakura, who has commented that the main objective of the Government of Japan is to send a Japanese astronaut to the Moon by the end of the 2020s. For this reason, a new selection process for astronaut candidates is underway. There are three key points regarding international space exploration: ensuring opportunities for Japanese astronauts for space exploration, recruiting new Japanese astronaut candidates, and studying an international lunar exploration program.
This second session was opened by John Spencer, founder of the Space Tourism Society, who spoke about the importance of the so-called "Space Economy" and recognized that it is a wonderful time for the space tourism industry. Different parts of the world, coming together to work on the development of space experiences.
“The spatial experience economy for us is a big picture of all the different types of spatial experience that people can have. Real spaceflight, Earth-based simulations and travel, and movies, TV, games, and virtual worlds,” Spencer said.
Subsequently, Pascale Ehrenfreund, president of the International Space University and who has an asteroid named after her, spoke of ensuring a guaranteed space future by "educating the next space leaders": "The space industry is experiencing rapid growth in all sectors, so you will need a highly-skilled workforce by 2030.”
For this reason, Ehrenfreund assures that this industry "has to be supported by an interdisciplinary, entrepreneurial and forward-thinking space education to attract talent." And there the International Space University plays a fundamental role, which already has more than 5,000 students from more than 100 countries that "develops the future leaders of the world space community by providing interdisciplinary educational programs in an international and intercultural environment."
How feasible is it?
Subsequently, Boris Otter, president and founder of Swiss Space Tourism, has been emphatic in saying that "space tourism is definitely a reality." Otter has shown itself to be so safe thanks to the important role that "space companies are playing, since they allow us to fly closer to the border of Space and even cross it through the Karman Line, located 100km high."
“Since 2001, you have the possibility of traveling to the International Space Station as an individual tourist. And you can also do suborbital flight which is almost accessible and orbital flight. It is definitely a reality and not a utopia”. So much so, that the next objective in relation to space tourism is to “go to the Moon”, says Otter.
Projects as titanic as that of companies like Axiom Space show that space tourism is getting closer every day. And it is that this company is already thinking of a space city: "Axiom is building the world's first private commercial space station," says Simon Jenner, private recruiter of astronauts for this company.
“The future of the station is to become a true city where thousands of people can live and work and spend much of their time in the low ground, experiencing weightlessness and observing the beauty of the Earth,” says Jenner.
And if we talk about projects that seem like science fiction, but that in a few years will be a reality, the best example is that of Orbital Assembly, which intends to build the first space hotel for tourists no later than the year 2027.
“To make it possible, we are developing artificial gravity space stations. Gravity in space alleviates severe medical conditions due to weightlessness, allowing for an environment conducive to profitable operations and increased accessibility for tourism. Gravity significantly reduces the frequency of replacement of human beings in orbit, decreasing annual operation, reducing operational risk and making space more pleasant”, says Tim Alatorre COO of this company.
“Our goal is to launch two space stations with accommodation for tourists: the first already in 2025 and the second scheduled for 2027. The Pioneer station, which will be operational in just over three years, will have the capacity to accommodate up to 28 people. On the other hand, the Voyager station, with its first components expected to launch within 5 years, will be able to hold up to 400 people once it is completed. It will have all the comforts of a luxury hotel, but in space”, says Alatorre.
Also the project of the Catalan company Zero 2 Infinity already thinks beyond our planet, in sustainability and the environment: “Zero 2 infinity opens a shortcut to space. A platform that provides a way to reach the edge of space that is affordable, green, and limitless. The balloons we manufacture are a potential for sustainability to extend space tourism to the masses”, says José Mariano López Urdiales, CEO of this company.
Women in space tourism
What this second day of SUTUS by Les Roches has also made clear is that the role of women is being fundamental in the space tourism race. And the best example is Nancy Vermeulen, a private astronaut trainer, who has stated that “the stakes are high in space exploration. All the superpowers are exploring space, or at least making plans to do so.
Vermeulen has a very strong thought, since he thinks that everyone can be useful to go to space: “You don't have to be a scientist or a pilot to participate in space travel. History has shown that if we use everyone's talents, humanity can achieve great things" and that is because for this woman who is a benchmark in the space world "each of us is already an astronaut on planet Earth and humanity needs us all. We have our own specific strengths and talents. Using them, we can build a bridge between the present, the past and the future. Going into space will be the glue that will hold humanity together."
Susan Kilrain, a retired astronaut commander and a true living legend of the space world, has shared the truth about being in space: “It's easy to be scared in the days before you go into space. You are in quarantine, you spend a lot of time in isolation. You don't have time to spend with your family, only the last day before flying. NASA won't leave you for safety."
Kilrain says that one of the most amazing sensations is once you get to space because “you are in free fall towards Earth but you don't fall”. But without a doubt, the strangest sensation is that of sleeping in space: “You are weightless and do not sit in bed. The most uncomfortable thing is when you go to the bathroom because everything is a bit rustic. There is no privacy and it is not comfortable.”
If there are already leading women in space such as Vermeulen and Kilrain, as the years go by there will be even more thanks to projects like the Space Prize by Roman Chiporukha: “It is a non-profit organization that we founded in mid-2021 with the approach of promoting universal space literacy and gender equality in the new space economy”.
On the last day of SUTUS by Les Roches, which will take place today, Friday, September 30, information will be expanded on the Spanish Space Agency with a new connection with Miguel Belló, Commissioner for PERTE Aerospace and on the role of Spain in Space with Carlos Garcia of the CDTI. On the other hand, we will meet internationally renowned Spaniards in the space race such as Jorge Pla and Carmen GarcÃa Roger, who are aspiring to be ESA astronauts.
In addition, the third day will focus on underwater tourism with such important figures as Fabien Cousteau, Jason deCaires or Pisces VI and SubMerge, whose presentations can be enjoyed exclusively through the virtual platform of Medina Media Events, prior registration.
