The imminent retirement of the International Space Station (ISS) marks a pivotal moment in space exploration, signaling a transition from government-led endeavors to commercially driven orbital platforms. As NASA gears up to de-orbit the aging ISS around 2030, the agency is actively fostering partnerships with private enterprises to cultivate a new generation of space stations. This strategic shift aims to leverage private sector innovation and investment to ensure continued human presence and research capabilities in low Earth orbit, paving the way for a more sustainable and accessible space economy.
This paradigm shift involves a competitive selection process to identify promising commercial space station designs and partners for initial demonstrations, including a 30-day crewed mission. Ultimately, NASA intends to procure “station services” from private contractors, effectively outsourcing the operation and development of a successor to the ISS. The deadline for submitting proposals is approaching, but preliminary engagements with companies developing commercial station concepts are already underway, allowing for early refinement and risk mitigation.
Among the leading contenders is Vast Space, a California-based company collaborating with SpaceX for the launch of Haven-1, projected to be the world’s first commercial space station. Slated for a May 2026 deployment, Haven-1 is designed as a single-module proof of concept intended for a three-year orbital lifespan. It is engineered to support four crewed missions, each lasting two weeks, with a complement of four astronauts per mission.
The Haven-1 module emphasizes a “human-centric” design coupled with a dedicated science laboratory. This configuration is intended to facilitate microgravity research and advanced manufacturing, with potential applications in sectors like semiconductor production. The station is envisioned to accommodate both commercial and governmental missions, providing Vast Space with invaluable operational experience as it progresses towards its more ambitious objective of developing a full-scale ISS successor, should it be selected by NASA.
Vast Space CEO Max Haot articulated the company’s immediate objective: “Our number one priority is to become an actual space station company — one that has a station in orbit, has sent people to it for a duration of time and has brought them back safely to Earth.” This pragmatic approach underscores the company’s focus on demonstrating core capabilities and building a verifiable track record in space operations.
Haven-1, with a diameter of 4.4 meters and a habitable volume of 45 cubic meters, offers a significantly smaller footprint compared to the ISS’s 388 cubic meters. Its launch will utilize a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with subsequent crewed missions employing SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Despite its modest dimensions, the interior is designed to enhance crew well-being and productivity, featuring a dome window, a communal table, private sleeping quarters, and high-speed internet connectivity via Starlink. As Haot noted, “It’s not designed to be a luxury hotel,” but rather to optimize conditions for effective work and rest.
Since the project’s inception in mid-2023, Vast Space has experienced substantial growth, expanding its workforce from approximately 200 to 950 employees. The company has also made significant investments in its own facilities, enabling the production of not only the Haven-1 module but also multiple modules annually for its projected larger successor, Haven-2. The development of a “qualification” version of Haven-1 for ground testing has been completed, validating its structural integrity under simulated launch and pressurization forces. Extensive testing has also been conducted in collaboration with NASA.
The orbital Haven-1 module is currently in its final welding stages, with vehicle integration and system testing to follow. Pre-launch preparations are scheduled to commence in April 2026, preceding the planned May liftoff. A key upcoming milestone will be the announcement of Haven-1’s crew and their specific mission objectives. Vast Space is targeting space agencies, particularly those in emerging nations seeking to establish their orbital presence, as primary customers. Additionally, the company plans to offer opportunities to private, self-funded individuals, emphasizing rigorous training and significant contributions to space-based work.
The station’s science laboratory, developed with commercial partners like Redwire Space, is poised to support pharmaceutical research and manufacturing, building on prior experience with the ISS. Rich Boling, vice president of Corporate Advancement at Redwire, stated, “We’re excited to be a part of such an historic enterprise, which can move at the speed of business.” He anticipates Haven-1 will serve as an effective platform for research, albeit with initial spatial constraints compared to the ISS.
Vast Space is not the sole entity pursuing private space station development. Other notable ventures include Starlab, a joint effort by Airbus and Northrop Grumman, and initiatives from Blue Origin and Axiom Space, which successfully executed the first all-private crewed mission to the ISS in 2022. The financial landscape for such companies, including their IPOs and revenue performance, is closely watched.
Architects and space researchers acknowledge the strategic value of starting with smaller, single-module designs to test critical systems economically. However, they also emphasize the importance of integrating the long-term vision from the outset. The success of future commercial space stations hinges on not only technical feasibility but also logistical efficiency and economic viability. Research by MIT suggests that to be sustainable, future commercial stations must aim for annual operating costs significantly lower than the ISS’s current approximate $12 million per day.
Vast Space has not publicly disclosed operating costs for Haven-1 but anticipates an investment of approximately $1 billion by its launch, funded by founder Jed McCaleb and future customer revenue.
David Thompson earned his MBA from the Wharton School and spent five years managing multi-million-dollar portfolios at a leading asset management firm. He now applies that hands-on investment expertise to his writing, offering practical strategies on portfolio diversification, risk management, and long-term wealth building.