Aerospace Startup Reveals Plans for Private Space Station

NASA plans to retire the International Space Station (ISS) by 2030, and it’s not short on succession options. With several space organizations vying for the (literal) next big thing in low Earth orbit, Vast Space, a billionaire-owned aerospace startup, is eager to outpace the competition. The company has revealed its plans for Haven-2, a private space station designed to look and feel like a luxury hotel.

Vast unveiled its mock-up images at the 75th International Astronautical Congress on Monday. Beyond meeting all of NASA’s basic in-space laboratory requirements, Vast’s plans for Haven-2 incorporate a series of “state-of-the-art laboratory facilities” designed to support a range of microgravity research and in-space manufacturing missions. An extravehicular activity airlock would allow astronauts to conduct spacewalks and maintenance projects as they do on the ISS, while a robotic arm would manage external payloads.  

But it appears that Vast is banking more on Haven-2’s aesthetics than its scientific practicality. Peter Russell-Clarke, the designer behind many of Apple’s eye-catching devices, offices, and stores, joined Vast as a design advisor last year. Haven-2’s interior, therefore, eschews metal paneling for fine-grained maple wood to bring a luxury hotel vibe to the station. Haven-2’s blueprint includes plans for a gym, entertainment rooms, and cushy spaces for sleeping—including a patent-pending inflatable duvet that should help astronauts feel right at home.

But if this space station is called Haven-2, where’s Haven-1? That one is a prototype, according to Vast CEO Max Haot. By building Haven-1 and launching it as a space tourism option in 2025, Vast plans to demonstrate its ability to produce aesthetically pleasing yet effective orbiting stations. This demonstration, Haot hopes, will win Vast the NASA Commercial LEO Destination contract, allowing it to build the successor to the ISS. If Vast does win the contract, it will aim to have Haven-2—a 5-meter-longer version of Haven-1—up and running by 2028. 

“This near-term timeline is made possible by leveraging Vast’s significant private investment in the design, build, launch, and operation of Haven-1,” the company claims.

After deploying Haven-2, Vast hopes to spend the following two years building and launching three additional modules. Designed to launch via SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, these modules would expand Haven-2’s usable volume while introducing new facilities and new life support systems. This modular structure would also enable international partners to get in on the game, according to Vast’s blog post.