Commercial space companies convinced billionaires that launching rockets was a business model. Now hotel developers are convincing those same billionaires that watching rockets from a beachfront infinity pool is worth $2,000 per night. Circle of life.
SpaceX and Blue Origin turned Cape Canaveral into a tourist destination for people who think Disney World lacks sufficient phallic imagery. The Space Coast is booming. Developers are scrambling to build luxury hotels so finance guys from Connecticut can drink overpriced cocktails and pretend they understand orbital mechanics. The hotels will have names like The Launchpad or Constellation Suites. The rooms will cost more than your car payment. The view will be a rocket that launches twice a month if weather permits.
This is what happens when you combine the worst instincts of Silicon Valley with the worst instincts of Florida real estate. Someone looked at swampland and said what if we charged rich people to stand here. Then someone else said what if we charged them to sleep here too. Then a third person said what if we called it innovation. They all got venture funding.
The real genius is that hotels are buying property to capitalize on launches they don't control. SpaceX delays a launch and suddenly your $2,000 suite overlooks a parking lot and some pelicans. Your wife is furious. Your kids are crying. You explain that Elon tweeted about propellant temperatures. She asks why you didn't just take them to Universal Studios. You have no answer.
Retail traders will see this headline and think they should invest in Florida real estate. They will not ask how many rocket launches it takes to justify a luxury hotel. They will not ask what happens when space tourism becomes as routine as flying to Newark. They will simply buy shares in some REIT that owns a Hampton Inn near Cocoa Beach and call themselves visionaries.
The Space Coast is about to become the Hamptons for people who think space is a personality trait.
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