Voyager and Hilton announced on Tuesday, 20 September, that the hotel chain will be the official partner for Starlab, Voyager’s planned free-flying commercial space station.
Hilton will be designing the suites for astronauts and space tourists who will visit the space station. They “will bring the company’s renowned hospitality expertise and experience to support the design and development of crew suites aboard Starlab, helping to reimagine the human experience in space, making extended stays more comfortable”, Voyager said.
Starlab will be more than just a destination, it will be an experience made infinitely more unique and artful with the Hilton team’s infusion of innovation, expertise, and global reach.
Dylan Taylor, Chairman and CEO, Voyager Space
This venture builds on Hilton’s effect in new and emerging markets, its storied history with space, and its global lodging and hospitality leadership, welcoming more than 3 billion guests across a portfolio of 18 brands, comprising 7,000 properties in 122 countries and territories. In partnership with Voyager, Hilton will bring this unique scale and customer focus to Starlab as it continues to serve travellers on any kind of journey.
“Voyager and Hilton are acutely focused on creating innovative solutions for the future of humanity and this partnership opens new doors to what is possible for comfort-focused space exploration and habitation”, said Voyager’s CEO.
Voyager, and its operating company Nanoracks, were awarded $160 million in NASA funding in 2021 for the Starlab space station, which is set to replace the International Space Station. Starlab is planned to have the capacity to continuously host up to four astronauts and house the George Washington Carver (GWC) Science Park, a state-of-the-art laboratory system and first science park in-space. Starlab leverages Voyager and Nanoracks’ experience managing global customer experience and research operations on the International Space Station for over a decade.
For decades, discoveries in space have been positively impacting life on Earth, and now Hilton will have an opportunity to use this unique environment to improve the guest experience wherever people travel.
Chris Nassetta, president and CEO, Hilton
“Hilton has been innovating to improve the guest experience and pioneering new destinations for travel for more than a century. We are thrilled to partner with Voyager to bring that expertise to Starlab,” said Chris Nassetta, president and CEO, Hilton. “This landmark collaboration underscores our deep commitment to spreading the light and warmth of hospitality and providing a friendly, reliable stay – whether on the ground or in outer space”, he added.
Voyager and Hilton will partner in the areas of architecture and design, leveraging Hilton’s word-class creative design and innovation experts, to develop Space Hospitality crew headquarters aboard Starlab, including communal areas, hospitality suites and sleeping arrangements for the astronauts. Additionally, 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 efforts.
The two companies believe the research and design work being dedicated to Starlab will also lead to advancements driving sustainability and greater design efficiencies for future hotel owners in space and on Earth.
