Italy-UK PARTNERSHIP

BUSINESS WORLD | 13 www.italchamind.eu Space tourism Aurora Station: like an astronaut for two weeks H ave you ever dreamed of being an astronaut? And of a holiday among the stars, literally? During the 2018 Space 2.0 Summit in San Jose, California, the Houston-based company Orion Span announced to be ready to open the first ever luxury hotel in space by 2022.  Orion Span’s project – Aurora Station – will host four civilian travellers along with two crew members for a 12-day holiday in space.  The CEO of the ambitious company, Frank Bunger, stated that this project is made possible because “almost every week, there is another rocket-launch company that is starting up with a new way to get to orbit cheaper, faster, better”.  Moreover, he said that “our goal is to make space accessible to all” and “upon launch in 2022, Aurora Station goes into service immediately, bringing travellers into space quickly and at a lower price point than ever seen before.” THE ASTRONAUT EXPERIENCE Tickets are $9.5 million each and, as any other holiday, travellers are required to pay an $80,000 deposit to book their place.  The main requirement – not considering the price limitation – is to be passionate about space and astronomy: the experience is not a simple one, and not because the hotel’s guests will be spending their time in space, but because they will be trained to understand basic spaceflight notions, orbital mechanics and life with zero gravity.  The training, which usually takes 24 months, has been rearranged to last 3 months only.  The Station will be in the low Earth orbit, 200 miles (320km) above the Earth’s surface, with a breath-taking view on the world and the travellers’ hometowns. Aurora Station will indeed gravitate around the Earth in 90 minutes, making the guests witness 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets per day.  In addition to the spectacular view, travellers will engage in research (such as growing vegetables, which they will be able to bring back home as a souvenir), in virtual reality experiments and in zero-gravity life.  Aurora Station will also be equipped with high-speed Wi-Fi, allowing the four guests to be in touch with family and friends on Earth and not feel lonely or bored in space.  Even though the concept of space holidays may seem one of a kind, Orion Span’s project is not the first one. In 2001, for instance, the American businessman Dennis Tito, who had been chosen among other candidates for a commercial spaceflight, visited the International Space Station for $20m. Elon Musk, SpaceX founder, Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, and Richard Branson are also competing in the run to get tourists in space.  Clearly, space holidays are not affordable for everyone, however, Orion Span’s CEO confirmed that “we want to get people into space because it is the final frontier for our civilization.” ·