{"id":43649,"date":"2025-11-04T17:13:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T09:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/a-commercial-space-station-startup-now-has-a-foothold-in-space-2\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T17:13:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T09:13:34","slug":"a-commercial-space-station-startup-now-has-a-foothold-in-space-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/a-commercial-space-station-startup-now-has-a-foothold-in-space-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A commercial space station startup now has a foothold in space"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pathfinder mission for Vast\u2019s privately owned space station launched into orbit Sunday and promptly extended its solar panel, kicking off a shakedown cruise to prove the company\u2019s designs can meet the demands of spaceflight.<\/p>\n

Vast\u2019s Haven Demo mission lifted off just after midnight Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit. Haven Demo was one of 18 satellites sharing a ride on SpaceX\u2019s Bandwagon 4 mission, launching alongside a South Korean spy satellite and a small testbed for Starcloud, a startup working with Nvidia to build an orbital data center.<\/p>\n

After release from the Falcon 9, the half-ton Haven Demo spacecraft stabilized itself and extended its power-generating solar array. The satellite captured 4K video of the solar array deployment, and Vast shared the beauty shot on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a launch night and team at Vast!\u201d the company\u2019s CEO, Max Haot, posted on X. \u201cAnd thanks for the ride, SpaceX. Haven Demo\u2019s mission success has turned us into a proven spacecraft company. The next step will be to become an actual commercial space station company next year. Something no one has achieved yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vast, backed by crypto billionaire Jed McCaleb, is one of several companies vying for a NASA contract to deploy a commercial outpost in low-Earth orbit. Unlike its competitors, Vast is taking an iterative approach with flight demonstrations for its private space station program. First, there\u2019s Haven Demo, now in space. That will be followed by a single-module human-rated habitat called Haven-1, and finally a multi-module space station complex named Haven-2.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Haven Demo in Vast\u2019s factory.<\/p>\n

Credit:
\n Vast<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Dual paths<\/h2>\n

Vast says Haven-1 is scheduled for launch next year on a SpaceX Falcon 9. The company has manufactured Haven-1\u2019s primary structure, a single module including its hatch and domed window. The structure completed pressure and load acceptance testing in Mojave, California, last month and will undergo final weld inspections and integration in Vast\u2019s clean room in Long Beach.<\/p>\n

,<\/p>\n

The integration tasks still include installing Haven-1\u2019s environmental control and life support elements, power, data, and thermal control systems, and thrusters, fuel tanks, and internal crew accommodations. While that work continues on Earth, Vast\u2019s demo mission will validate some of the company\u2019s designs in space.<\/p>\n

Flying at an altitude of 300 miles (500 kilometers), Haven Demo will test Vast\u2019s computer, power, software, guidance and control, propulsion, and radio systems. The pathfinder will also provide Vast an opportunity to exercise its ground stations and mission control teams.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Vast will ship Haven-1 from its California headquarters to NASA\u2019s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio for a rigorous environmental test campaign. The Haven-1 module, roughly 33 feet (10.1 meters) long and 14 feet (4.4 meters) wide, will undergo acoustics, vibration, and electromagnetic interference testing. Engineers will also place the habitat into a test chamber to check its performance in the extreme temperatures and airless vacuum environment of low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n

Then, Haven-1 will ship to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for final launch preparations. Vast\u2019s official schedule calls for a launch of Haven-1 no earlier than May 2026, but there\u2019s still a lot to do before the spacecraft is ready to travel to the launch site.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The primary structure of Vast\u2019s Haven-1 habitat is seen undergoing structural testing in Mojave, California.<\/p>\n

Credit:
\n Vast<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Once in orbit, Haven-1 will host a series of crew visits flying on SpaceX\u2019s Dragon spacecraft, each staying for two weeks before returning to Earth.<\/p>\n

Haven-1 has a habitable volume of about 1,600 cubic feet (45 cubic meters), somewhat less than one of the primary modules on the International Space Station, but five times more than SpaceX\u2019s Dragon capsule. Vast\u2019s longer-term roadmap includes a larger multi-module space station called Haven-2 to support larger crews and longer expeditions in the 2030s.<\/p>\n

Vast\u2019s demo mission is an initial step toward these goals. The satellite now circling the planet carries several systems that are \u201carchitecturally similar\u201d to Haven-1, according to Vast. For example, Haven-1 will have 12 solar arrays, each identical to the single array on Haven Demo. The pathfinder mission uses a subset of Haven-1\u2019s propulsion system, but with identical thrusters, valves, and tanks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A pathfinder mission for Vast\u2019s privately owned space station launched into orbit Sunday and promptly extended its solar panel, kicking off a shakedown cruise to prove the company\u2019s designs can meet the demands of spaceflight. Vast\u2019s Haven Demo mission lifted off just after midnight Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and rode a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43649"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}