Galactic Suite and space tourism

[ehilge]

Hey all, I just saw an http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/odd/6422739/space-hotel-says-its-on-schedule-to-open-in-2012/" ) that claims they will have a space hotel operational by the end of 2012. I was just curious as to if the engineering community (thats you guys!) thought that this is even feasible, not only from a funding standpoint, but even if the money was available, if a private company would be able to put up the hardware for a venture like this in time. To me, it seems like this whole company is almost a joke since I can't find any evidence that they've actually done any engineering work on the project. But someone here might know something I don't. And while we're on the subject, what's the latest on Richard Branson and Virgin galactic?

 

[Mech_Engineer]

Let's just say is is HIGHLY improbable that they will have a "space hotel" in orbit in less than 3 years. I would even be skeptical if they were quoting by 2020...