News

The First Space Hotel Is Set To Open In 2027

Published

5 years ago

March 10, 2021

the first space hotel is set to open in 2027

Orbital Assembly

While hotels in many countries around the world are still closed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, space construction company Orbital Assembly Corporation has recently announced that its first space hotel, called Voyager Station, is set to open in 2027.

The idea for the Voyager Station dates back to 2012 and a Californian company called Gateway Foundation, which later established Orbital Assembly Corporation to realize its ambitious plan. First plans were introduced to the world in 2019, describing a futuristic rotating hotel inspired by sci-fi movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Orbital Assembly

Back then, the hotel was called Von Braun Rotating Space Station, but its name was later changed because the connection with the infamous Nazi regime aerospace engineer, Wernher Von Braun, caused unwanted controversy.

The latest design of the ambitious space hotel features 24 modules connected together by elevator shafts, offering over 11,600 square meters of habitable space for its 280 guests. The modules form a massive wheel that rotates around a central docking bay to create artificial gravity using centrifugal force.

Orbital Assembly

“The station rotates, pushing the contents of the station out to the perimeter of the station, much in the way that you can spin a bucket of water — the water pushes out into the bucket and stays in place,” explained Tim Alatorre, senior design architect at Orbital Assembly Corporation to CNN Travel.

Orbital Assembly

To keep everyone’s anxiety levels as low as possible, Voyager Station will have not only a bar, restaurant, gym, and other features expected in a luxury cruise ship but also 44 emergency return vehicles (ERVs) programmed to autonomously return back to Earth.

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Orbital Assembly Corporation plans to position its first space hotel 500-550 kilometers above Earth’s surface in a sun-synchronous orbit, meaning it will always face the same position relative to the Sun. This is mainly to reduce thermal stress on key structural components.

Not much information on how much it will cost to book a room in the space hotel has been revealed so far, but it’s safe to assume that it will exceed the average person’s annual salary several times. Rumors suggest that a 4-day stay will set you back $5 million.

News

Lebanon Ministers Meet Visa Over National Digital Payment Platform

Finance and technology ministers say a comparative study and roadmap will follow before any decision on adopting a model.

Published

22 hours ago

May 5, 2026

Joanna Melki

lebanon ministers meet visa over national digital payment platform

Lebanon’s finance and technology ministers met representatives from Visa last week to discuss a proposed unified national digital payment platform for government services, according to a readout from the Ministry of Finance.

The meeting brought together Finance Minister Yassin Jaber, Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence Kamal Shehadeh, a Visa delegation, and experts from both ministries. Discussion focused on whether Lebanon could establish a single platform through which citizens and institutions would pay taxes, fees, fines and other official transactions electronically, using mobile phones and other digital channels.

The Visa delegation presented examples from countries that have adopted unified government payment platforms, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Estonia and Jordan. According to the readout, the examples were presented as having increased collection rates and expanded financial inclusion.

Talks covered settlement mechanisms, direct transfer to the treasury account, financial reconciliation, risk management, cybersecurity, fees, and an operational model that would involve the private sector. The parties agreed to continue technical and institutional consultations, prepare a comparative study, and develop an implementation roadmap before any decision on adopting a model for Lebanon.

Jaber said the Ministry of Finance had already enabled citizens to pay using credit cards and e-wallets through transfer companies, but described the proposed platform as a further step. He framed the development of electronic payment and collection systems as a priority within the ministry’s modernization plan.

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Shehadeh outlined the citizen-facing concept as a single mobile application through which users could settle obligations to ministries, government institutions and other bodies.

“The idea, in short, is that any citizen downloads an application on their mobile phone, through which they can pay all service obligations for all ministries, government institutions, or those owned by the Lebanese state, and others as well, as the platform is not limited only to state institutions,” he said.

Shehadeh added that the platform would not displace banks and money transfer companies that currently provide collection services to the state, calling it complementary to their work.