December 25, 2017 - 11:16 AMT
Russia plans to construct luxury hotel on the ISS

While American private corporations are working to offer paying customers a short trip to space (or the edge of it), Russia is cooking up something grander. Russian space corporation Roscosmos is planning to build a luxury hotel on the ISS.

Anybody whose pockets are deep enough to shell out at least $40 million for the experience can stay there for a week or two. An additional $20 million will buy them the chance to go on a spacewalk with a cosmonaut, Engadget said.

Russian space contractor RKK Energia conjured up the strategy to be able to pay for the construction of the second module it's building that will set it back $279 to $446 million. RKK Energia is already building the first of the two modules to serve as a science laboratory and power supply station. Although the second module has always been part of the plan, the Russian government is only paying for the first one.