Vast unveils commercial space station plans with space agencies and civilians in mind

A California aerospace company announced plans Wednesday to launch a commercial space station, partnering with Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Haven-1 is set to launch sometime after August 2025, said Vast, the Long Beach space company behind the project.

The station will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and will initially serve as an independent crewed space station, Vast said. Later, Haven-1 will be connected to a larger space station created by the company.

Also planned is Vast-1, the first human spaceflight mission to Haven-1 on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, the company announced. Vast-1 will be made up of a four-person crew and will allow participants to orbit Earth for 30 days.

Max Haot, president of Vast, said the company expects Vast-1 to begin three months later or at least by the end of 2025.

“They both will launch from Florida, from Cape Canaveral,” Haot told USA TODAY.

He said no people will be onboard when Haven-1 launches to make sure things are “safe and under control.” Once that happens, a crewed mission will begin.

According to the aerospace company, the venture marks the first time a commercial space station company has both a contracted launch for its own space station and a human spaceflight mission.

What's Vast's goal?

Haven-1 is the beginning of a larger plan for future explorations into at least the 2040s. These projects include gravitational environments such as Earth, Mars and the moon.

One of the company's plans is to use Haven-1 to create the world's first spinning, artificial gravity experiment on a commercial space station.

Jed McCaleb, cofounder of Vast, said the lack of gravity in space makes it difficult for people to live there more than a year without suffering from bone loss, retina issues and brain damage.

"There's no downward force (in space)," McCaleb told USA TODAY. "You can simulate this by spinning."

By using a spinning structure, Vast plans to create a centrifugal force that will push everything towards the end of the station, he said.

The spinning artificial gravity space station will be launched via SpaceX’s Starship transportation system.

Haot said working with SpaceX was an obvious choice. While there are options such as Boeing Starliner and others in Russia, he said “right now is not the right time to be doing partnership in these regions.

“If you want to build a space station … SpaceX Dragon is the only option today,” said Haot.

What will Vast missions look like?

Vast plans to sell up to four crewed seats on the first mission to Haven-1.

SpaceX will also train crew on Falcon 9 and the Dragon spacecraft, emergency preparedness, spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises. Also covered will be simulations including docking and undocking with Haven-1 so they can return to Earth safely.

Vast said its projects will be useful for science and research, in-space manufacturing, satellite-hosted payloads on Haven-1 and sponsorship and product marketing.

Haot said Vast has two target customers:

• International space agencies that want to send more astronauts into orbit.

• Private citizens interested in philanthropy and space research.

Vast also said the launch will help the company provide payload to customers, or equipment they need in space.

How will Vast space missions help researchers?

Vast said the launches will "accelerate access to space exploration."

Haven-1 will also provide space travelers with 24/7 communications and a fully independent space station with life-support functions, as well as a large window dome for photography, WiFi and "room to stretch and rest."

The company also said its first expedition to Haven-1, called Vast-1, will allow four crew members access to Haven-1 for up to 30 days.

Haot said he also considers NASA and other government agencies potential customers.

"We're very excited to continue to be engaged with them as they are planning to replace the International Space Station," he said.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vast: Space company plans to open first commercial space station