By 
January 13th, 2026
Image credit: GRU Space
A newly-minted, Y Combinator‑backed startup aims to make lunar tourism the first sustainable business on the Moon.
That’s the word from Skyler Chan, founder and CEO of Galactic Resource Utilization Space (GRU Space), a visionary Berkeley-based group.
Proprietary module system
Space’s lunar hotel would be the first ever permanent off-Earth structure built in history. GRU Space plans to build it using a proprietary habitation module system and automated process for transforming lunar soil into durable brick structures.
Construction is targeted to begin in 2029 — pending regulatory approval – with airlocks open to guests by 2032.
And if you have $1 million dollars, you can put a cash-down deposit for the right to reserve one of the first spots on what will be a once-in-a-civilization experience, explains a GRU Space statement.
“If selected, you’ll be invited to enter into a deposit agreement and make a deposit of either $250,000 or $1 million depending on the option you select,” the GRU Space website adds.
Image credit: GRU Space
Inflection point
Chan said “we live during an inflection point where we can actually become interplanetary before we die.”
The key technical challenge we face, Chan adds, is that humans cannot expand beyond Earth until we solve habitation on the Moon. He argues that this is the “Promethean moment that allows for an exciting future in space. If we succeed, billions of human lives will be born on the Moon and Mars and be able to experience the beauty of lunar and martian life.”
GRU Space is initially focused on adventurers, repeat private spaceflight participants, and those taking a “honeymoon” to the next level.
Fastest path
Lunar tourism is viewed by the group as the best economic wedge that will spin up the lunar economy, leading to the fastest path for humanity becoming interplanetary.
At 21, Skyler founded GRU Space, fundraised from investors behind SpaceX & Anduril. He was accepted into Y Combinator as its youngest space solo founder the day before graduating a year early from UC Berkeley’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences program.
GRU Space is part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2026 batch, and is their first company focused on building human habitation on other terrestrial bodies.
GRU Space’s early team consists of former Colorado School of Mines professor Kevin Cannon, with Robert Lillis serving as an advisor. Lillis is the principal investigator of the recently lofted ESCAPADE Mars mission.
For more information on GRU Space, go to:
Posted in Space News
