Interest in lunar travel often captures the imagination, yet concrete opportunities have remained out of reach for the public. GRU Space, a startup led by Skyler Chan, has stepped forward to offer a tangible proposal—the prospect of staying as a guest on the Moon within the next decade. While booking a room is not yet possible for most, GRU invites early interest with significant deposits. This bold tourism vision, described by company leadership as both ambitious and necessary, raises questions about the practicalities and costs of off-world hospitality as well as the appetite for such experiences among high-net-worth adventurers.
When GRU Space outlined preliminary plans for lunar accommodations, earlier discussions centered mainly on broad aspirations in space tourism and surface technology, focusing on the technical limitations and international partnerships required. Presently, the company claims to have secured notable investors, clarified a target opening date, and shared its phased mission schedule. The updated information provides more specific timelines and financial details, emphasizing both the challenges and measurable steps toward their goals, marking a progression from prior conceptual pitches to more actionable milestones.
How Will GRU Space Build Its Lunar Hotel?
GRU Space plans to begin construction with an inflatable habitat capable of hosting up to four guests for extended stays. The structure, intended as the world’s first lunar hotel, will later be replaced with a permanent building inspired by San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. Technical staff, including geologist Kevin Cannon and planetary scientist advisor Robert Lillis, are overseeing site selection and the early construction experiments. Y Combinator, Nvidia, SpaceX, and Anduril have invested or provided support, reflecting industry interest in the feasibility of lunar hospitality infrastructure.
Who Can Stay and What Will It Cost?
The first phase targets wealthy adventurers, experienced space travelers, and couples seeking a unique honeymoon destination. Prospective guests are required to make an initial non-refundable application payment of $1,000, with total projected costs exceeding $10 million. Deposits currently range from $250,000 to $1 million as GRU Space collects interest for fantasy vacations with a practical business angle. According to founder Skyler Chan,
“If we solve off-world surface habitation, it’s going to lead to this explosion. We could have billions of human lives maybe born on the Moon and Mars.”
How Does GRU Space Fit Within Broader Space Policy?
Space tourism is increasingly recognized in U.S. policy, and GRU Space’s timing coincides with NASA’s ambition to develop a permanent lunar presence in the coming decade. National space agencies and billionaire-driven private companies have traditionally led off-Earth projects, but GRU aims to pioneer a commercial third sector. Chan expressed hope that tourism would drive larger lunar infrastructure projects, noting,
“Lunar tourism is the best first wedge to spin up the lunar economy.”
Looking beyond its initial hotel concept, GRU Space envisions establishing a suite of lunar infrastructure, ranging from roads to resource processing facilities, and potentially expanding operations to Mars and asteroids. The company’s approach involves using tourism-generated revenue to finance ongoing development. While their proposed timeline is ambitious and subject to change, the details laid out provide clearer benchmarks for assessing progress over the next several years. Observers must consider the financial, regulatory, and technical obstacles that remain, but growing public and institutional commitment to lunar activity could support such ventures. Anyone interested in space tourism should carefully evaluate deposit requirements, mission schedules, and the complex logistics involved before planning their own lunar getaway.
