A Russian company last week announced plans to launch a comfortable space hotel for tourists who up to now have shared cramped accommodation with astronauts, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The company, Orbital Technologies, plans to launch the first module of the hotel in 2015-16, its chief executive Sergei Kostenko told RIA Novosti at a presentation.
A cosy fit, the first module will measure just 20m3 and have four cabins designed for up to seven passengers, who would go into orbit using the Soyuz shuttle, Kostenko said.
Up to now space tourists, who have included the Canadian founder of the Cirque du Soleil, Guy Laliberte, have squeezed into the International Space Station (ISS) along with cosmonauts and animal life including fruit flies.
The new hotel will offer more comforts than the ISS, Kostenko said.
“Our planned module inside will not remind you of the ISS. A hotel should be comfortable inside, and it will be possible to look at the Earth through large portholes,” Kostenko said, calling it a “cosmic hotel.”
The space hotel will be aimed at wealthy individuals and people working for private companies who want to do research in space, Kostenko said.
The space tourism program was halted earlier this year as the crew numbers on the ISS increased, leaving no room for extra passengers.
Kostenko said that the project has “found Russian and American investors, and we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars,” without elaborating.
“At the moment, the project is already at the design stage,” he said.
The space hotel would be built by Russian spacecraft manufacturer Energia, the company’s Web site says. It would follow the same orbit as the ISS.(AFP)
俄羅斯國際新聞通訊社報導,俄國一家公司上週宣布,將替至今只能與太空人同處於狹小空間的觀光客,推出舒服的太空旅館。
該公司為Orbital Technologies。執行長謝爾蓋‧柯斯成科於發表會告訴俄新社,他們計畫於二零一五到二零一六間發射第一個太空旅館船艙。
柯斯成科說,這個旅館相當舒服,建造的第一個艙只有二十立方公尺,分成四個隔間,最多可容納七位旅客,他們將乘坐聯合號太空船到達軌道上。
直到現在,包括創辦太陽馬戲團的加拿大人,蓋‧拉利伯特,在內的太空觀光客們,只能與國際太空站上的太空人跟果蠅擠在一塊。
柯斯成科表示,這座新的旅館將比國際太空站更加舒適。
稱這旅館為「宇宙旅館」的柯斯成科說,「我們設計的艙裡不會讓你想起國際太空站。旅館內部本來就該舒舒服服的,且可以透過大舷窗觀看地球。」
柯斯成科說,太空旅館顧客群,將瞄準富有的個人,以及計畫太空實驗的私人公司員工。
由於國際太空站的人員增加,沒有空間容納其他旅客,所以太空觀光計畫今年不得不暫停。
柯斯成科不願詳述的表示,此計畫找到了「俄國與美國投資者。」
他說,「目前這個計畫已經在籌畫階段。」
太空旅館將由俄國公司Energia負責承造,此消息亦公佈於公司網站。太空旅館將與國際太空站使用同一個軌道。
(法新社/翻譯:吳岱璟)
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