Russia plans to build a luxury hotel on the ISS

Russia seems to have recognised the potential for space tourism and has announced plans to create a luxury hotel on the ISS.

The planned luxury hotel in space, will offer private cabins having big windows, dedicated personal hygiene facilities, exercise equipment and also a WiFi connection. Additionally visitors to the luxury hotel on the ISS will get the opportunity to go on spacewalks with a professional Russian cosmonaut.

The expedition will be a rather costly affair at $40 million per person and people who would like to stay for a month and go on a few spacewalks, would need to spend $20 million more.

According to commentators, though spaceflight continues to be out of reach of all but the richest, but for those who have the means, spending $60 million on an unforgettable trip only experienced by a handful of people in our planet's history might be worth it.

The luxury hotel on the ISS is under construction of the Russian Roskosmos State Corporation and according to Popular Mechanics, which was able to access a detailed proposal, the new 15.5 metre-long module would weigh a massive 20 tons and provide 92 cubic meters of space.

It would accommodate four sleeping quarters sized around two cubic metres each and two ''hygiene and medical'' stations of the same volume. Each private room would also have a porthole 228 millimeters in diameter (9 inches), while the lounge area of the module would have a giant 426-millimetre (16-inch) window.

According to the Russian company RKK Energia, the tourist module would take a minimum of five years to build, Popular Mechanics reported. This means the module would not be up and ready for use until 2022, less than a decade before the station is scheduled to retire.