Back in November 2021, as the U.S. crept warily out of full pandemic mode after millions of Americans got vaccinated, a Sacramento, California-based startup’s cofounder was interviewed by Astronomy. “We want to make this an easy choice,” Tim Alatorre told the industry outlet, “If you want to go to Paris for a week or you want to go to space for a week, we want it to be a question of preference, not of money.” Three years later, though, the company posted its annual C-AR Form report, and money seems to be a huge – perhaps insurmountable – issue. For anyone thinking we’d actually get a space hotel by 2027, right now, the proposal looks more and more like science fiction.

It all started three and four years back, in 2021 and 2022. We’d see some reel or a YouTube clip explaining the proposed resort. SpaceX even politely nodded at the initiative, lightly suggesting a collaboration of some kind…if it were ever realized.

Fast-forward to 2025, post-OceanGate, post-United Healthcare CEO assassination, and the general public can’t seem to stomach the concept

This week, I spotted a previously released rendering of the startup’s proposed 280-guest orbital hotel on social media…and viewer response was nothing short of outrage. The bottom-line tone from the comments is easy to sum up: “We just want decent healthcare.”

Since I hadn’t heard of the space hotel’s actual status when it resurfaced, I decided to visit the company’s website and explore its investor page.

Above: Space Development Corporation was first launched as Orbital Assembly Corporation. AOC, now ABOVE, built out a several-stage vision it presented to the industry a few years ago. While it planned to launch commercially focused services first, its longer-term proposal included a 125,000-square-foot resort the general public could book. Initially, the company claimed the hotel could be fully operational by 2025. Most recently, however, it publicly suggested a 2027 launch.

Hotel guests would expect to find all of the typical luxury resort amenities, with, of course, windows looking out into the cosmos being the big draw.

Back in 2021, the company suggested that beyond private customers, NASA might purchase a suite or two to house its astronauts, perhaps between missions.

How could a space hotel even work?

For perspective, the International Space Station (which is coming into its retirement while several other decidedly more established companies, partnered with both domestic and foreign entities, work on building its replacement) houses just 13 people. What’s more, hanging out in zero gravity isn’t all that great for the human body.

In 2021 AOC (again, now ABOVE) proposed a feat of engineering wherein the hotel would actually host variable gravity. Those interested in the nitty-gritty logistics of the whole proposal can read more on the company’s site.

As of June 2024, though, the space hotel’s realization looks quite grim when it comes to the published list of investor risks.

A 2024 report shared that hosting an astronaut at the ISS for eight days runs about $58 million

With costs that high, the idea of a space hotel that’s financially within reach for the general population seems near impossible. And now, on paper, it looks like it really is.

In ABOVE’s fiscal 2024 Form C-AR annual report, the company stated net working capital of just $30K…and net losses of $3 million. The company shared it employed just six people.

“For the 58-month period from the inception of our Predecessor to June 30, 2024, we have generated cumulative revenue of $1.8 million and cumulative net losses of $3.0 million,” the report reads, “As of June 30, 2024, we had current assets of $204,000 and current liabilities of $174,000, resulting in working capital of $30,090.”

Among the list of investor risks – pages of them – are warnings of the company’s likely inability to compete with other entities. Think SpaceX, Blue Orbit, Axiom, and yet others working on launching various commercial space labs and the above-mentioned internationally collaborative station before 2030.

Moreover, the report stated that the company’s current insurance policies likely weren’t substantial enough to cover the inherent risks of cosmic operation.

“Our ability to continue as a growing concern depends on generating additional revenues and securing financing,” says the report, “If we fail to do so, we may be forced to curtail or suspend operations, or even liquidate the company, leading to the loss of your investment.”

In any case, Earthlings concerned about a space hotel housing the ultra-wealthy while Americans continue to grapple with health insurance companies denying them proper care can fairly confidently assume that a cosmic resort isn’t happening by 2027.