This 22-year-old Canadian is behind plans to build a hotel on the m...

This 22-year-old Canadian is behind plans to build a hotel on the moon

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Skip to Content Subscribe Our Offers My Account Manage My Subscriptions FAQ Newsletters Canada Canadian True Crime Canadian Politics Health World Israel & Middle East Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Comics NP News Quiz New York Times Crossword Horoscopes Life Eating & Drinking Style Sponsored Play for Ontario Travel Travel Canada Travel USA Travel International Cruises Travel Essentials Culture Books Celebrity Movies Music Theatre Television Business Essentials Advice Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Buy Canadian Home Living Outdoor Living Tech Style & Beauty Kitchen & Dining Personal Care Entertainment & Hobbies Gift Guide Travel Guide Deals Savings National Post Store More Sports Hockey Baseball Basketball Football Soccer Golf Tennis Driving Vehicle Research Reviews News Gear Guide Obituaries Place an Obituary Place an In Memoriam Classifieds Place an Ad Celebrations Working Business Ads Archives Healthing Epaper Manage Print Subscription Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ Newsletters Canada World Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Life Shopping Epaper Manage Print Subscription This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.HomeNewsSpaceWorldThis 22-year-old Canadian is behind plans to build a hotel on the moonSkyler Chan built a software for Tesla, sent a NASA-funded 3D printer to space and is now eyeing the moon. US$1M deposit required from those looking to book a spotLast updated Jan 16, 2026 You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Skyler Chan, 22, is the founder and CEO of Galactic Resource Utilization Space. Photo by GRUA Canadian who built vehicle software at Tesla, constructed a NASA-funded 3D printer that was sent into space and participated in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets glider program at the age of 16 now has his sights set on building a hotel on the moon.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERSEnjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ARTICLESEnjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountHis venture is backed by the Y Combinator accelerator program, a venture capital firm, and is also part of Nvidia’s Inception program. But there’s also the potential for money from would-be hotel guests. A hefty deposit of US$1 million is required from those looking to book a spot. And the tentative opening date isn’t for another six years.Galactic Resource Utilization Space was founded by Skyler Chan, 22, who grew up in Vancouver and is a graduate of the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley.Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again“Growing up, I always wanted to become an astronaut,” Chan told National Post. “Chris Hadfield was my role model.”He said the space industry is “propped up by two pillars,” meaning government programs like NASA and billionaire-backed companies like SpaceX.“And we want to … extend the third pillar. Space tourism, which is already a proven market on Earth. We bring it to the moon, quite literally. We build the first hotel on the moon.” An artist’s conception of the first hotel on the moon, as planned by a company called GRU. Photo by GRUThe company moniker is shortened to GRU, which is also the name of the villain in the Despicable Me movies who at one point wanted to steal the moon. Indeed, the company’s white paper outlining its plans concludes: “It’s time to steal the moon.”GRU launched its booking website this week. It outlines an ambitious plan. The first GRU mission to the moon in 2029 would test a process for making bricks out of local materials. Next up, construction of a small habitat. And then — boom. A hotel with a view of the Atlantic Ocean. And the Pacific. Also the Indian. The company’s video shows expansive rooms with large windows, while an artist’s conception of the exterior looks like a stone temple from a video game, complete with moody lighting.GRU says it will use “a proprietary habitation modules system and automated process for transforming lunar soil into durable structures.”The white paper is a mix of hopeful philosophy and science. It talks about the need for humanity to become intergalactic, with the moon as a vital first step, and also includes charts on transportation costs and power requirements.But it also lays out “The ‘Top Secret’ GRU Master Plan,” which is back-of-the-napkin simple: “1. Build the first hotel on the Moon. GRU solves off-world surface habitation. 2. Build America’s first Moon base (roads, mass drivers, warehouses, physical infrastructure on the Moon). 3. Repeat on Mars.”The company is also looking for help, with an ad seeking a “founding member of technical staff,” a job it says will pay US$80,000 to US$130,000 a year.“You will be responsible for structural and mechanical systems that must eventually survive vacuum, regolith, thermal extremes, and human life support constraints,” the ad reads. “This is a systems-heavy, deeply hands-on, high-agency role.”It adds: “You’re not ‘supporting’ a program. You are the program.”This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.The million-dollar deposit is refundable if the hotel fails to open, Chan said, but there’s an additional fee of US$1,000 (non-refundable) to keep reservations restricted to serious and well-heeled travellers. GRU says it expects the average stay to be five nights. Travel time, barring any great advances in rocketry, is about three days each way. A “Moon brick” of the type the company hopes to make on the moon. Photo by GRUThose with less than seven figures to spend can still buy merch from the GRU shop, which sells hats, tees, mugs and the ever popular space hoodie.For $1,400 you can even purchase a “moon brick.” The company says the bricks are “produced from simulated lunar regolith simulant, stamped with the GRU logo,” adding: “These bricks are made using the same technology we’ll use to build structures on the Moon.”The concept of hotels in orbit or on the moon is not a new one. One of the earliest was unveiled more than 60 years ago at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in downtown Chicago, where dancers performed a number called “out of this world” in a mockup of a hotel called the Lunar Hilton.A Chicago-area newspaper noted in its issue of Aug. 27, 1958: “This could mean that the Hilton chain is dickering with the idea of opening the first hotel on the Moon.”That was some ambitious dickering, given that the first human spaceflight was still more than two years away, and the first human lunar landing still more than an decade out. Would-be lunar tourists are still waiting for the grand opening.Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. 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