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A California-based startup intends to build a hotel on the moon by 2032, allowing you to book a holiday. To be among the first to see what the business states will be “the first-ever permanent off-Earth structure,” prospective space visitors must deposit a substantial $1,000,000 (almost Rs 9 crore).
Skyler Chan, a Berkeley graduate, founded Galactic Resource Utilisation Space (GRU) and unveiled information about the hotel’s architecture on Monday, January 12, when they unveiled their booking website. To fulfil the challenging deadline, the company said in a statement that it would employ “a proprietary habitation module system and automated process for transforming lunar soil into durable structures.” According to the company, construction is anticipated to start in 2029, subject to regulatory approval.
The hotel’s initial clientele is anticipated to include wealthy, daring newlyweds seeking an extraordinary honeymoon experience as well as participants in prior commercial space trips. According to the firm, tourism is essential to the lunar economy’s full development, offering “the fastest path for humanity to become interplanetary”.
“We live during an inflexion point where we can actually become interplanetary before we die,” in the statement. “If we succeed, billions of human lives will be born on the moon and Mars and be able to experience the beauty of lunar and martian life,” Chan said.
Chan, a 21-year-old alumnus of the University of California, Berkeley with degrees in computer science and electrical engineering, created the concept for the moon hotel while working at Y-Combinator, a startup accelerator. Chan claimed that investors in SpaceX and Anduril, a business creating autonomous defensive systems, have contributed money to the project.
With President Donald Trump’s backing, Jared Isaacman, the new NASA Administrator, has a plan for US space expansion that includes a permanent presence on the moon. Chan believes GRU can help bring plans to success.
Additionally, the corporation published a white paper that outlines a plan for increasing humankind’s presence on the moon, beginning with the upscale hotel and working its way up to more extensive settlement. Here are some upcoming missions according to GRU’s website.
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Mission I
First lunar systems test
A pressurised test payload is placed on the lunar surface to evaluate controlled environmental conditions, alongside early construction experiments using locally sourced materials. Together, these tests reduce risk ahead of larger, more complex missions.
Mission II
Lunar cave base
A larger payload lands near a lunar pit chosen for its natural shielding from radiation and temperature extremes. Inside, an inflatable system is deployed, and further construction tests begin, preparing the way for building at scale.
Future missions
Long-term presence
Future missions scale construction on the moon using ISRU systems and robotic equipment. Modular inflatable habitats are enclosed by structures made from lunar material, increasing capacity from four to ten guests and extending operational life.
As payload costs drop and launch cadence improves, this supports a permanent lunar presence and opens the path to similar destinations on Mars.
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