SpaceX Starship Will Fly Tourists To First-Ever Space Hotel With Fake Gravity [Watch]

Yes, it looks almost exactly like “Space Station V,” the rotating wheel space station in "2001: A Space Odyssey." And yes, the “Von Braun Rotating Space Station” will also generate artificial gravity from its rotation.

The Von Braun Rotating Space Station is being touted by its designers, the Gateway Foundation, as the world’s first commercial space hotel. Naming this historic spacecraft after the German rocketry genius, Wernher von Braun, without whom the U.S. space program wouldn’t exist, is appropriate.

Way back in the 1920s, von Braun and Herman Potočnik (a Slovene rocket engineer and pioneer of astronautics) together proposed such a wheel space station. Potočnik described such a space station design in his book, "The Problem of Space Travel-The Rocket Motor," published in 1928.

The design of the Von Braun Rotating Space Station is based on concepts developed in the 1950s by von Braun.

Gateway Foundation describes the Von Braun Station as “a segmented spaceport that will be revenue generating at each major stage of completion. This will be mankind’s first space station with artificial gravity.”

It said this station will likely be the first commercial space construction project in history. The Von Braun Space Station will have gravity, full-service kitchens, guest rooms, beds, bars, and interiors made from natural materials and colors.

The existence of artificial gravity on the space station will make visiting and long-term habitation much more comfortable compared to the ISS. Getting to the Von Braun will mean a ride on the SpaceX Starship spacecraft now under development.

"The goal of the Gateway Foundation is to have the Von Braun operational by 2025 with 100 tourists visiting the station per week,” said Tim Alatorre, senior design architect of the Von Braun Space Station to dezeen.

"Because the overall costs are still so high, most people assume that space tourism will only be available to the super rich, and while I think this will be true for the next several years, the Gateway Foundation has a goal of making space travel open to everyone."

Alatorre said going to space will eventually just be another option people will pick for their vacation, “just like going on a cruise, or going to Disney World.”

The station will consist of a 190 meter-diameter wheel that will rotate to create a gravitational force similar to that felt on the Moon. Surrounding the wheel will be 24 individual modules in the Habitation Ring outfitted with bedrooms and other support functions.

"There will also be many of the things you see on cruise ships: restaurants, bars, musical concerts, movie screenings, and educational seminars," said Alatorre.

He said some modules will be sold as private residences. Others will be rented-out for scientific purposes. The population of the station can reach 400 persons.

Alatorre said “the use of fabrics, warm-colored lighting and paints, and materials with texture, all help us to connect and feel at home. Because the station will have gravity there will be sense of direction and orientation that isn't present in the ISS."