Hotel on the Moon: reservations open with deposits up to $1 million

Book a room that doesn't yet exist, pay a security deposit of up to a million dollars, with the promise - yet to be verified - of one day sleeping on the Moon. This isn't the catchphrase of a science-fiction novel, but a concrete proposal launched by a young Californian company.

The idea is as simple as it is disconcerting: convince a very small elite of the ultra-rich to 'book' a stay, scheduled for 2032, in the first hotel to be built on lunar soil.

The crazy project is the brainchild of Galactic Resource Utilisation Space, better known as Gru Space, a company founded by Skyler Chan, a 21-year-old engineer trained at UC Berkeley. The start-up has just launched its official website, opening its doors to reservations. With the website, the architectural details of what is, for the moment, only a virtual hotel, have just been revealed.

According to Gru Space's press release, the structure will be made up of pressurized living modules and built using part of the lunar soil, transformed by automated processes into hyper-strong structural elements. Construction is scheduled to start in 2029, subject to obtaining necessary permits. The first customers will be welcomed (on paper) three years later.

The project was launched at the Y Combinator and, according to its founder, has already attracted investors linked to renowned companies such as SpaceX and Anduril, a detail that reinforces the credibility of the operation, without however removing existing grey areas.

For the moment, cost remains the big unknown. While the Californian start-up admits that the final price has not yet been set, it nevertheless indicates that it will probably exceed $10 million/person. The figure in question clarifies the project's target audience: space enthusiasts, as well as people ready to break the piggy bank and pay outrageous sums of money for a unique experience.

Between enthusiasm and caution

Beyond the publicity and the attractive images, the project raises more than one concern. The technologies required to build, develop and operate a hotel on the Moon, from transporting the necessary materials to ensuring guest safety, are not yet operational on a large scale. According to many observers, this is a highly speculative idea, based on powerful storytelling and exclusivity.

However, the global context favors such initiatives, with the Moon once again being at the center of both scientific and industrial interests. What's for more, the line between exploration and tourism is becoming increasingly blurred. In such a context, the Gru Space hotel seems to want to achieve a specific wish: to be among the first, to leave a trace on the moon, to buy a piece of the future, rather than to merely travel to the moon.

It remains to be seen whether this future will actually have a reception area overlooking the Sea of Tranquility in a few years' time, or whether this tale will end up confined to the stage of spectacular 3D modelling and reimbursed reservations.

Source: GRU Space

(MP/©GreenMe.it/Translation and adaptation: The Global Money/Pic: Unsplash)