Photo Illustation: SpaceX Dragon approaching Vast’s Haven-1 space station module to dock. / Source: Vast

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Vast is a company that aims to develop artificial gravity space stations. It will soon take its first step to test the technologies through a partnership with SpaceX. Vast announced its plans to launch the world’s first commercial space station, called Haven-1. The first module will launch atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket sometime in August 2025. 

“Vast is thrilled to embark on this journey of launching the world’s first commercial space station, Haven-1, and its first crew, Vast-1,” said Vast CEO Jed McCaleb. “We are grateful to SpaceX for this exciting partnership that represents the first steps in Vast’s long-term vision of launching much larger, artificial gravity space stations in Earth orbit and beyond.”

“A commercial rocket launching a commercial spacecraft with commercial astronauts to a commercial space station is the future of low-Earth orbit, and with Vast we’re taking another step toward making that future a reality,” said Tom Ochinero, Senior Vice President of Commercial Business at SpaceX. “The SpaceX team couldn’t be more excited to launch Vast’s Haven-1 and support their follow-on human spaceflight missions to the orbiting commercial space station.” The company shared a video of how Dragon will dock to the Haven-1 space station module, linked below. 

Vast also signed a contract with SpaceX to launch the first crewed mission to Haven-1 aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft which will dock with Haven-1 with four astronauts. The first crewed mission is called ‘Vast-1’ during which the crew will test artificial gravity technology in Low Earth Orbit. They could spend up to 30 days orbiting Earth. The company also secured a contract for a second crewed flight aboard Dragon. 

The Haven-1 module is designed to dock to a larger Vast space station that is currently under development. “Vast’s long-term goal is to develop a 100-meter-long multi-module spinning artificial gravity space station launched by SpaceX’s Starship transportation system,” shared SpaceX. The Starship spacecraft is also actively undergoing development and is expected to be operational by 2025.

“Prolonged exposure to zero gravity results in debilitating side effects such as muscle atrophy, bone loss, and even brain damage. Today’s astronauts must limit their visits to space to reduce the toll on their bodies. This is a limiting factor in our ability to expand across the solar system. By building artificial gravity habitats, we aim to create a more optimal environment for long-term stays in space,” says Vast’s company website. “Artificial gravity is not science fiction. The resulting centrifugal force of a large spinning structure in space provides a pull that mimics the gravitational environment human bodies are accustomed to, thus reducing the detrimental physiological effects that extended stays in zero gravity cause.”

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The Vast-1 crew has not been announced yet. The company says SpaceX will train them as their mission approaches. Their training will involve learning every detail of how the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft operate, emergency preparedness, and other mission simulations to train them for potential situations they may encounter in space. It is unknown if the crew members will be civilians or professional astronauts. Vast is selling four seats aboard a Crew Dragon mission on its official website vastspace.com/reserve, however, the pricing is not publicly available on the website only to their inquiring customers. A SpaceX seat aboard Crew Dragon costs over $55 million for NASA astronauts. 

VIDEO: Vast Mission Overview

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