Orbital Technologies, a Russian space exploration firm, has released pictures of the Commercial Space Station, a "space hotel" that it plans to open for service in 2016.
Reuters reports that The Commercial Space Station, or CSS as it's known, will orbit 217 miles above the earth and have room to accommodate up to 7 guests, so grab your six closest (and wealthiest) buddies, and get excited for the view.
(PHOTOS AND VIDEO BELOW)
According to the Daily Mail, guests aboard the CSS will dine on food like braised veal cheeks with wild mushrooms and imbibe iced tea and fruit juice. Alcohol, however, will not be available, so prepare to abstain for a few days.
The International Business Times adds that the the Commercial Space Station's lavatories will use air to "flush," rather than using water like earth toilets do.
But space-age toilets and gravity-free consumption of veal cheeks comes at a hefty price. The cost for a five-day stay at the CSS? Nearly $1 million, Dvice.com notes, taking into account the $800,000 round-trip airfare (spacefare?) and the $160,000 price of the hotel stay. (Orbital Technologies COO Stiphan Beher told HuffPost that the prices cited by DVINE and the Daily Mail were incorrect, as the company does not quote prices.)
Another purpose the CSS will serve, according to Orbital Technologies, is as a safety refuge for astronauts aboard the International Space Station in case of an emergency.
Sergey Kostenko, the CEO of Orbital Technologies, called the CSS "a true gateway to the rest of the solar system" when the company first announced the plans in September 2010. "A short stop-over at our station will be the perfect beginning of a manned circumlunar flight," he said. "Deep space manned exploration missions planned in the next decade are also welcome to use the CSS as a waypoint and a supply station."
Orbital Technologies isn't the only private company betting on space tourism. Virgin Galactic has already booked 430 "astronauts" who have lined up to pay $200,000 to experience a few minutes of weightlessness.
LOOK: Pictures of the Commercial Space Station:
This post was updated July 29, 2013, with comment from Orbital Technologies.