Space tourism & - shuttle C hotel

Bill White · 2004-02-20 21:23:00

Moved from another thread:

Bill White wrote:

My idea is to use the spare Russian ISS-Zarya (2 were built, right? with one now in LEO and the other in some warehouse) and add 1 Transhab module and add a docking module capable of simultaneously docking 3 vessels (Soyuz/Super-Soyuz/Progress).
Voila! A space hotel capable of supporting 6 or 8 people. 2 crew and 4 or 6 guests at one time. Emergency escape craft will determine actual capacity.
Cost?
ISS-Zarya cost $200 million USD yet most was for R&D. Besides the spare ISS-Zarya is now surplus. $50 or $100 million might be enough to buy it. Maybe less.
$100 million has been spent to design TransHab yet SpaceHab has already been paid by NASA. Lets say $50 million takes home a Transhab.
Add $75 million to design and fabricate a docking module.
Launch weight?
ISS-Zarya is 20,000 kilograms. TransHab? Not sure but certainly less than 20,000 kilograms. Docking module? 5,000 kilograms? Is that reasonable?
Shuttle C can lift 75,000 kg which leaves room for 25,000 - 30,000 kilograms for initial supplies and fuel and solar panels.
Given the weight totals, keeping the main tank attached would be fairly easy. Once on orbit, empty the tank and use it for: (a) large exercise room in zero-g; (b) Hollywood movie sound stage; (c ) Sports. Play a 2 on 2 game blending hockey & basketball all in zero-gee. What is that Aztec game where they throw the ball through the ring? Hold the ball for 5 seconds and its a turnover. Electronics can referee that point.

$300 - 350 million USD for a shuttle C launch and $150 - 200 million to purchase the components. $500 million buys a brand new space hotel.
= = =
I envision 10 equity partners at $50 million each plus we sell the name rights to a major world hotel chain and we sell the name rights to the docking module to a major world airline.
Terminal Alpha, Lufthansa's LEO hub.
Persuade McDonalds to pay $50 million for several years of rights to film commercials in LEO, using existing crew and hotel guests as actors. What about Verizon Wireless (or Nokia)
"Can you hear me now?"
Equity partners?
One Hollywood mogul/icon - Tom Hanks, or Steven Spileberg pays $50 million for the exclusive right to shoot movies at the hotel. Only if he buys a 10% equity share.
ESPN/Nike etc. . buys an equity share for exclusive rights to the zero-gee sports arena
CNN/Fox/BBC etc. . buys an equity share for exclusive rights to make newscatss from LEO.
Otherwise, equity partners pay $50 million for the equivaent of the NFL personal seat license. You buy the rights for a first option to buy passage to the hotel. Who would buy this? Suppose you own a major oil company.
Heh! Just suppose, okay? You and a competitor are bidding on a multi-billion dollar oil franchise with an Arab prince. Each company offers the same price but you offer this prince and his wife a free week in LEO courtesy of your company. WHo gets the contract?
Or Maersk or Hyundai (the shipper not the car-maker) or Bechtel is bidding to build a new shipping container handling facility. A $75 billion contract. A week in LEO could be a marvelous incentive.
Its like a timeshare on a corporate jet.
10 partners pay $50 million each for the initial equity and another $250 million is raised by name rights and advertising and that pays to build and launch the hotel.
Operating expenses are paid by the tourists.
= = =
The Soyuz people make money hand over fist (after Kouru is man-rated) until Elon Musk deploys a man-rated Falcon. If the man-rated Falcon can undercut Soyuz to LEO price.
Weekly Soyuz flights? How cheap would a crewed Soyuz launch be if Space Adventures offered to buy say 100 flights over an 18 month period?
Okay, sorry, end rant. Maybe I am just nuts. . .

Then clark wrote:

Maybe...
"Step right up and win yourself a prize!"
You're brilliant Bill.

Thanks! Maybe I am brilliant!

Buy two equity shares ($100 million) and you are given the exclusive fanchise to sell lottery tickets for a chance to win a fully paid trip to LEO.

Then Rxke wrote:

IIRC Russia is alread building/converting/dusting-off a module for private/commercial use... but i forgot who was footiing the bill...
Isn't it ironic? Former 'enemy of free enterprize' now the leader in commercial/tourist spaceflights

As for funding from name rights:

Look at this [http://espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/s/stadiumnames.html]this link.
FedEx is paying $205 million for name rights to Redskin stadium in Washington AND more big bucks in Memphis. ($12 million per year for two local markets - well, DC is a big market but still its only a city, not a country)
LEO hotel name rights would be truly global.
Many of these are on a "per year" basis and my plan needs to compress these numbers into many fewer years yet how much might Hyatt, Hilton or Marriott pay for the name and logo to the very first space hotel?

Ian · 2004-02-26 11:50:44

Can space tourism eventually be cheaper than it is today?

Bill White · 2004-03-08 19:06:14

American Express offers [http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-04b.html]space awards in exchange for accumulated usage points.

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#1 2004-02-20 21:23:00

Re: Space tourism & - shuttle C hotel

#2 2004-02-26 11:50:44

Re: Space tourism & - shuttle C hotel

#3 2004-03-08 19:06:14

Re: Space tourism & - shuttle C hotel

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