Fancy a weekend away? A European company behind plans to open the first hotel in space predict a holiday in orbit will soon become a realistic travel option. Galactic Suite say their space station hotel is on schedule to accept its first paying guests in 2012.

The Barcelona-based architects of 'Galactic Suite' say the space hotel will be the most expensive in the galaxy, costing 3 million euros, or $4.5 million, for a three-night stay. During that time guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and travel around the world every 90 minutes.

Galactic Suite's CEO said the project will put them at the forefront of an
infant industry with a huge future ahead of it. Company director Xavier
Claramunt believes that within a few years space travel will become a common occurrence.

"It's very normal to think that your children, possibly within 15 years, could spend a weekend in space," he said.

A nascent space industry is beginning to take shape with construction underway in New Mexico of Spaceport America, the world's first facility built specifically for space-bound commercial customers and fee-paying passengers.

British tycoon Richard Branson's space tours firm, Virgin Galactic, will use the facility to propel tourists into suborbital space at a cost of $200,000 a ride.

Galactic Suite hopes to start its project with a single pod in orbit hundreds of miles above the earth, traveling at over 17,000 MPH. It will take a day and a half to reach the pod - which Claramunt compared to a mountain retreat, with no staff or receptionist to greet the traveler.

"When the passengers arrive in the rocket, they will join it for 3 days,
rocket and capsule. With this we create in the tourist a confidence that he hasn't been abandoned. After 3 days the passenger returns to the transport rocket and returns to earth," he said.

More than 200 people expressed an interest in traveling to the space hotel and at least 43 people have already reserved. The numbers are similar for Branson's Virgin Galactic with 300 people already paid or signed up for the trip. But unlike Branson, Galactic Suite say they will use Russian rockets to transport their guests into space.

They say the space dream is near and say their first launch in 2012 will
herald the start of space as tourist destination, not just for the super-rich.