Start-up company promises hotel stays on the moon for a heavy sum
Earthlings are getting a new hotel destination as a California start-up has promised hotel vacations on the moon for a minimum of $1 million.
Though humans last stepped foot on the moon 53 years ago, one California company is bringing space colonisation into the future.
Galactic Resource Utilization Space, also known as GRU Space, is aiming to build habitable dwellings on the surface of the moon; inflatable structures will be built by 2031, and eventually hotels by 2032, they promise.
As per their website, the hotels will “offer views of the lunar landscape and Earth, along with envisioned experiences such as surface experiences including Moonwalks, driving, golfing, and other activities.” The hotels will be designed to operate for 10 years.
The honour doesn’t come cheaply, as the organisation demands a minimum of $250,000, up to $1 million, depending on the type of experience chosen. Though an official pricing structure has not yet been revealed, it could exceed $10 million.
Having enough disposable income isn’t the only bar to entry; those interested in the space vacation will have to apply. Once chosen, they will have to enter a “private auction” with invitations “tied to specific mission roles and lunar stays.”
The organisation has explained, “Humans cannot expand beyond Earth until we solve habitation on the Moon. When we solve off-world habitation, this is the ‘Promethean moment’ that will enable billions of human lives to be born on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”
They intend to create modular inflatable structures from “lunar material” that will form into ten-person abodes.
This is a formidable feat as only 24 astronauts have travelled to the Moon and 12 of them have walked on its surface, all during the Apollo programme. The Artemis III will be launched into space in February 2026 and will head to the Moon’s south pole.