Photo: Shutterstock A new startup plans to open the first hotel on the moon by 2032.
The startup, called Galactic Resource Utilization Space, Inc. (GRU Space), aims to build residential structures in space, with an initial focus on the Moon.
According to a report by startup accelerator YCombinator, GRU is backed by investors from SpaceX and Anduril and is part of Nvidia's Inception program.
The company plans to build modular homes off Earth using In-Situ Resource Utilization technology, which turns local materials into building materials.
“Our first habitat will be a hotel on the Moon for space tourists, aiming to open 2032,” YCombinator boldly claimed, adding, "In 2029, our demo mission will turn lunar regolith into bricks and demonstrate our modular pressurized habitat system. A second mission will begin laying the hotel’s foundation in a lunar cave. A third mission will open the first lunar hotel. "
The report also indicates that the GRU's long-term plan does not stop at just a hotel on the moon and includes the following: "Build America’s first Moon base: roads, mass drivers, warehouses, and physical infrastructure. Repeat on Mars and build the first cities there."
How much will a night at a hotel on the moon cost? Prices start $416,667 per night.
It is important to note that long before the publication of GRU's ambitious plans, some of whose timetables are questionable, the American space agency NASA and ICON, currently one of the world's leaders in 3D printing from lunar soil, have been advancing 3D printing technology towards space missions in recent years by examining how lunar soil behaves under lunar gravity conditions, and developing a laser system that converts this soil into building materials for habitats.