SpaceX and a space company collaborated to launch a commercial space station.
By the end of 2025, Jed McCaleb's cryptocurrency-backed venture Vast hopes to fly a space station the size of a school bus into orbit with some assistance from SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket company.
The International Space Station is an orbital research facility that has been in operation for the past two decades. It is largely managed by the United States, Russia, and the European Space Agency, and it is set to be replaced by the cylindrical spaceship known as Haven-1.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) wants commercial space stations to take over from the ISS when it retires in 2030.
In 2021, the organization gave $415 million in development grants to four businesses, including Northrop Grumman (NOC.N) and Blue Origin, the billionaire Jeff Bezos' company.
Vast was not one of the recipients, but the business's president, Max Haot, told Reuters on Monday that the company wants to secure some NASA funding by 2028.
No private business has ever created and used a space station. The ISS, which is the size of a football field, cost the participating nations more than $100 billion in total. It was constructed across several launches and furnished with different components over the course of its career.
The current lack of private financing as investors look for less risky projects increases the ambition to build a revolutionary space station.
McCaleb, whose net worth is $2.4 billion according to Forbes, will support the development of the spaceship and has already given the firm a $300 million commitment.
The entire cost of developing Haven-1 "remains to be seen," McCaleb, who is also Vast's CEO, said in a recent interview.
Vast, which was established in 2021, stated that it intends to launch a crew of four to Haven-1 immediately after it is deployed for a 30-day research mission. From SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, Haven-1 will be launched.
The astronauts, who will depart from Earth in SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft that will automatically dock at Haven-1, will also receive training from the company.
The future of low-Earth orbit is a fully commercial project, and Vast and SpaceX are moving toward making that a reality, according to a statement from senior SpaceX executive Tom Ochinero.
Three more missions of 30 days each are planned during Haven-1's estimated three-year lifespan. According to Haot, Vast is in discussions with prospective astronauts for the first voyage.
The major target market for Vast would be governmental space agencies. Philanthropists, commercial research organizations, and businesses seeking to send just cargo — not humans — to the station for robotic research missions might all be additional clients.