Orbite

Orbite is a Seattle-based commercial spaceflight training and hospitality company founded in 2019 developing multi-facility campus complexes that combine astronaut preparation training infrastructure with immersive public space experience venues — targeting both professional astronaut and space tourist preparation markets alongside general public space-themed entertainment and education, with a first campus targeting a 2027 opening in partnership with Accor, one of the world's largest hospitality groups.

Orbite's campus concept integrates facilities typically found only in government space agency training centers (NASA JSC, ESA EAC) and makes them commercially available to private astronauts, commercial space tourism customers preparing for Blue Origin New Shepard, SpaceX Crew Dragon, or future space station flights, and corporate groups seeking immersive space experience events.

Core training infrastructure includes: a high-G centrifuge for accelerated flight simulation (exposing trainees to the g-forces of launch and reentry), a neutral buoyancy facility (a large pool where spacesuit-wearing trainees simulate weightlessness and practice EVA tasks), spacecraft cabin simulators for crew operations training, virtual reality (VR) training environments recreating orbital and surface environments, and physical conditioning equipment and protocols adapted from astronaut fitness programs.

The Accor hospitality partnership is strategic: Accor operates 5,600+ hotels globally under brands including Novotel, Fairmont, Sofitel, and Banyan Tree, and the co-branded campus concept leverages Accor's hospitality operations expertise, booking infrastructure, and loyalty program member base to attract non-astronaut visitors seeking a luxury space-adjacent experience. The campus hotel concept — overnight stays adjacent to training facilities, enabling immersive multi-day programs — differentiates Orbite from pure training providers and justifies the campus real estate investment through diversified revenue streams (hotel stays, corporate events, public tours, training courses).

Competitors in commercial astronaut training include the National Aerospace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center in Pennsylvania, Final Frontier Medical Devices' training programs, and various VR space experience companies. Orbite's differentiation is scale — building full-facility campuses with multiple training modalities under one roof — and the hospitality integration that targets the broader space tourism and space-adjacent entertainment market.