American start-up companies Vast Space and SpaceX announced that they will launch the world’s first commercial space station Haven-1 module through the Falcon 9 rocket, which is planned to be no earlier than August 2025.
After the Haven-1 module is deployed in low-Earth orbit, Vast Space and SpaceX will then execute a Crew Dragon mission called Vast-1, sending a crew of four to a commercial space station for up to 30 days.
According to the current design, the module is 10.1 meters long and 3.8 meters in diameter, and can be loaded into the standard payload fairing of the Falcon 9 rocket. It will be launched together with other payloads and consumables to an orbit 500 kilometers above the ground. After weeks of testing to confirm that everything is working properly, preparations are underway to launch the first crew (named yet to be determined) to Haven-1, where the life support systems are provided by the Dragon spacecraft as it docks with the module. If any problems arise during the stay, the Dragon spacecraft will be ready to leave immediately.
The two-year-old Vast Space revealed few commercial space station details prior to the announcement, and has yet to build any hardware for the module, with prototypes currently under construction.
Vast Space’s founder, Jed McCaleb, has deeper pockets than most and may have some advantages in the commercial space station race. In order to meet NASA’s demand for artificial gravity, Vast Space plans to launch a larger module with a diameter of 7 meters around 2028 (the current International Space Station module has a diameter of 4.2 meters), which is expected to be launched through the SpaceX starship rocket.
(Source of the first image:VAST）
