Hotel on Moon: US firm takes reservations for its non-existent premise

GRU Space, a new startup, has begun accepting reservations for a future Moon-based hotel, with ticket prices ranging from $250,000 to $1 million. However, these payments function more as unsecured deposits or investments rather than confirmed bookings, as no firm timeline exists for the project. Tentative test missions are planned for 2029 or 2030, with the company aiming to host guests by around 2032. The proposed hotel would use inflatable habitats similar to NASA and Bigelow Aerospace’s B330 designs, protected from lunar hazards and later shielded with lunar regolith bricks. Access to the hotel would rely on crewed lunar transport operated by third parties like SpaceX. While some technological aspects, such as inflatable habitats and regolith-based shielding, are grounded in existing research and past demonstrations, the overall feasibility faces significant challenges. Currently, there is no established Moon tourism industry, no routine crewed lunar missions, and no emergency rescue or support infrastructure on the Moon, including power,