Thinking about your next vacation plans? Or are you considering a trip to space one day? Well, Hilton appears to be combining the two as the official hotel partner of Starlab, Voyager’s free-flying commercial space station. Hilton will bring the company’s hospitality expertise and experience to support the design and development of crew suites aboard Starlab to make longer stays more comfortable.
Voyager and Hilton will collaborate on architecture and design, leveraging Hilton’s creative design and innovation experts to develop the space hospitality crew’s headquarters aboard Starlab, including common areas, hospitality suites and astronaut sleeping arrangements.
In addition, the teams will seek to explore opportunities together for longer-term efforts, including the ground-to-space astronaut experience, global co-marketing and branding, and other tourism, educational, and commercial endeavors.
Voyager and its operating company Nanoracks received $160 million from NASA in 2021 for the Starlab space station, which will replace the International Space Station. Starlab is said to have the capacity to continuously accommodate up to four astronauts and to house the George Washington Carver (GWC) Science Park, a state-of-the-art laboratory system and the first science park in space. Starlab has leveraged the experience of Voyager and Nanoracks in managing global customer experiences and research operations on the International Space Station for over a decade.
“Hilton has been innovating to improve guest experiences and open new destinations for more than a century. We are excited to partner with Voyager to bring this expertise to Starlab,” said Chris Nassetta, Hilton President and CEO.
“For decades, discoveries in space have positively impacted life on Earth, and now Hilton has the opportunity to leverage this unique environment to enhance the guest experience wherever people travel. This landmark collaboration underscores our deep commitment to spreading the light and warmth of hospitality and providing a friendly, dependable stay—whether on Earth or in space.”
This unique company builds on Hilton’s impact in new and emerging markets, its rich history in space and its global leadership in the hotel and hospitality industry, and welcomes more than three billion guests across a portfolio of 18 brands that spans 7,000 hotels in 122 includes countries and territories. In partnership with Voyager, Hilton will bring this unique scale and customer focus to Starlab as it continues to serve every traveler for every travel need. The research and design work dedicated to Starlab could also lead to advances that drive sustainability and greater design efficiencies for future hotel owners in space and on Earth, Hilton said in a press release.
“More than just a destination, Starlab will be an experience infinitely more unique and artistic through the innovation, expertise and global reach of the Hilton team,” said Dylan Taylor, chairman and CEO of Voyager Space. “Voyager and Hilton have an intense focus on creating innovative solutions for the future of humankind, and this partnership opens new doors to what is possible for comfort-oriented space exploration and habitation.”
