At first glance, the space station is very similar to the one in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The dream of “space ports” and hotels feels like something that only exists in the sci-fi world, but the organization Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC) wants to start building their structures as early as 2025 to test and develop their rotating concepts.
OAC presented new information about the plans for investors during an event on 29 January. They plan to build the first artificial gravity space station ever: Voyager Station . The space station should be able to be visited by up to 400 tourists at a time.
The Gateway Foundation was founded in 2012 by John Blincow, reports space.com. In 2018, the organization in turn founded OAC. The team includes NASA veterans, engineers, pilots and architects. The OAC’s website includes the following about the project:
The Gateway Foundation was founded to build the first spaceport. To succeed in this, we must first build some smaller structures. One of the most important projects is our Voyager space stations. They will probably be the first commercial space construction projects in history.
Artificial gravity
The Voyager Station is an innovative project based on ideas from rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, who was, among other things, an important part of NASA’s Apollo program. The space station is planned to have artificial gravity, which can eliminate the problems that arise in weightlessness. In this way, the station can make it possible for people to stay longer in space.
The rotating space station is planned to be built in the form of a wheel, 200 meters in diameter, consisting of 24 modules where each module is approximately 20×12 meters.
In order to create artificial gravity, the station must rotate rapidly around its own axis, and be in a low orbit. The goal is to create a moon-like gravity, that is, 1/4 of the earth’s gravity. The artificial gravity will enable a more earthy everyday life with restaurants, bars, gyms, cinemas and other things on board.
But before Voyager Station can begin construction, prototypes must be tested. The plan is to first build a smaller wheel 61 meters in diameter that will be tested in a low orbit with the goal of creating a stable artificial gravity similar to that on Mars, which is about 2/5 of the earth’s gravity. If this succeeds, it will lay a large and significant foundation for future projects, the space hotel included.
“This will be the new industrial revolution, ” states Blincow.
