A room with a view - 250 miles above earth
We all talk of and are constantly being told about taking hospitality to the great heights. This one beats them all. Axiom Space led by former NASA chiefs and astronauts has taken the bold leap to build the first commercial space station, which will also perhaps be the world’s first commercial space station for tourists.
While there is no update on the progress of Orion Span’s planned orbiting hotel, which was slated to welcome guests from as early as 2022, it would seem that the race to launch hospitality outside the planet’s atmosphere is still on.
Based in Houston, Texas, Axiom, which means “a statement or proposition which is regarded as being established” has plans underway to launch a hotel into space by 2024.
Although its manufacturing requires space engineers, the design of the cabin interiors have been handed over to world-renowned French industrialist and hotel design legend Philippe Starck. 71-year old Philip Starck has a history in all aspects of unusual design – from hotels to yachts to an individual wind turbine.
Mike Suffredini, Chief Executive of Axiom Space, said, “Philippe Starck will have the honour of designing the cabins inside – think “nest-like comfort’ – that will frame panoramic views of our home planet below”.
Costing a reported $ 2 million, which is significantly far less than when considering the expense of constructing a new-build hotel in today’s climate, the Axiom station is planned to become the first ever free-flying, globally available private space station, which is planned to launch in 2024.
“This is a dream project for a creator like me with a genuine fascination for aviation and space exploration,” said Starck”, who had one theme in mind when designing Axiom crew accommodations: multi-directional freedom. The egg-like structure symbolizes nest-like comfort complete with unobstructed views of our home planet – the 1st such place for humans to truly envisage our place in the galaxy. Starck’s design has a certain style and elegance – a far cry from the functional, sterile environment one might anticipate from a zero-gravity space station.
Starck says he wants the travelers to “physically and mentally feel their actions of floating in the universe. Our goal was not to create a copy of life on earth but to create the best environment for human beings in this infinite territory. Life on earth is held down by gravity, but life in space is a multidirectional freedom: There is no horizontal, no vertical, even no diagonal.”
When you’ve exhausted your bucket list of earthbound destinations, and when you have the bucks to spend, space is the logical next space. And, when you orbit 250 miles above the Earth, travelling over 17,000 miles per hour, floating around in a Starck-designed nest, as a comfort from home, with Wi-Fi, you can cross this one ‘off’ your list. To infinity and beyond…
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