Plan to launch inflatable ‘space hotel’ in 2021

A billionaire hotel mogul plans to launch an inflatable space hotel – and could take his first reservations for the year 2021.

Robert Bigelow, 72, made his fortune from hotels, but has already worked with NASA on space habitats.

Bigelow hopes to launch a ‘monster’ space station with twice the volume capacity of the International Space Station.

Bigelow previously suggested customers will be able to book ‘rooms’ on the station for a price which could be ‘in seven figures’ – although it might be in the ‘low eight figures’, Bigelow admitted.

Bigelow said, ‘We will spend millions of dollars this year to drill down on a conclusion as to what the global space market is going to look like.

‘When we look at what is the commercial picture, as far as humans’ use of space today, it’s a whole lot different than it was 10 years ago.’

One of Bigelow’s inflatable modules is already attached to the Space Station.

He plans to launch ‘fully autonomous, standalone’ space stations in 2021, he said in a news conference.