It sounds like something James Cameron would be developing, or Tom Cruise. And indeed, the company behind a planned new studio and events venue in space is producing Cruise's effort to make a movie beyond the atmosphere.
Space Entertainment Enterprise has unveiled plans to build a production studio and, even more ambitiously, a sports arena, in a new module attached to the International Space Station, before getting to the point where it can detach from the station and become its own commercial facility.
"SEE-1 is an incredible opportunity for humanity to move into a different realm and start an exciting new chapter in space," say co-founders Dmitry and Elena Lesnevsky in a statement. "It will provide a unique, and accessible home for boundless entertainment possibilities in a venue packed with innovative infrastructure which will unleash a new world of creativity. With worldwide leader Axiom Space building this cutting-edge, revolutionary facility, SEE-1 will provide not only the first, but also the supreme quality space structure enabling the expansion of the two trillion-dollar global entertainment industry into low-Earth orbit."
It's all a little sad to see the monetization of space and, honestly, sounds like the sort of first-act announcement by a villain in a Bond movie. Sure, we'll believe them when they say that a giant antenna is for broadcasting and not a laser aimed at the planet. Assuming it all works out, the new facility should be up and running by December 2024.