SpaceX and Vast jointly request research proposals for first mission to Vast’s Haven-1 space station
Artist’s rendering of Haven-1 interior.
Click for original.
With the launch of Vast’s single module space station Haven-1 still scheduled for August, SpaceX and Vast have jointly requested research proposals (here and here) for station’s first manned mission, expected to be a four person 30-day flight soon thereafter. From the Vast press release:
Building on their established partnership, the two companies seek high-impact research projects to support humanity on Earth and advance our capacity to live and work in Earth orbit and beyond. Submitted proposals will be evaluated based on scientific and technical merit, feasibility, and alignment with mission objectives. Approved research proposals will be able to leverage the capabilities of the Haven-1 Lab, Dragon spacecraft, and/or private astronaut missions to the International Space Station (ISS).
Haven-1 is the only one of four commercial space stations being designed or built that has taken no NASA money. It also appears it will be the first to launch, thus putting it an excellent position to win the larger space station contract from NASA to build its much larger Haven-2 station.
Though neither SpaceX nor Vast are offering any funding for these proposals, they offer researchers access to space quickly and with relatively little bureaucracy (something all scientists routinely face in working with NASA). Researchers who fly on that first mission will also become well positioned to win further NASA research space station contracts later on.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Artist’s rendering of Haven-1 interior.
Click for original.
With the launch of Vast’s single module space station Haven-1 still scheduled for August, SpaceX and Vast have jointly requested research proposals (here and here) for station’s first manned mission, expected to be a four person 30-day flight soon thereafter. From the Vast press release:
Building on their established partnership, the two companies seek high-impact research projects to support humanity on Earth and advance our capacity to live and work in Earth orbit and beyond. Submitted proposals will be evaluated based on scientific and technical merit, feasibility, and alignment with mission objectives. Approved research proposals will be able to leverage the capabilities of the Haven-1 Lab, Dragon spacecraft, and/or private astronaut missions to the International Space Station (ISS).
Haven-1 is the only one of four commercial space stations being designed or built that has taken no NASA money. It also appears it will be the first to launch, thus putting it an excellent position to win the larger space station contract from NASA to build its much larger Haven-2 station.
Though neither SpaceX nor Vast are offering any funding for these proposals, they offer researchers access to space quickly and with relatively little bureaucracy (something all scientists routinely face in working with NASA). Researchers who fly on that first mission will also become well positioned to win further NASA research space station contracts later on.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
August? Kewl! I’d been figuring Q4 so mid-Q3 is pure gravy. It will be interesting to follow news of the proposals submitted as they come in.
Dick Eagleson: I actually have some doubts they will meet that August launch target. They keep referring to the module undergoing final testing as an “primary structure qualification article.” This implies it is not the actual module to launch, and if so, it means they have very little time to built that actual module and test it before August.
ZimmerBob: There is certainly a general tendency for any schedule for space-related stuff to slip rightward. Vast has no patent of immunity against such slips. One thing in its favor, though, is that it has followed the SpaceX example of being very vertically integrated. In particular, Vast has the capability of making all of its large structures in-house, unlike, say, Axiom, which subcontracts all such work. As always, we will have to see how things look as August approaches.
Robert Zimmerman wrote: “They keep referring to the module undergoing final testing as an ‘primary structure qualification article.’ This implies it is not the actual module to launch, and if so, it means they have very little time to built that actual module and test it before August.”
Usually when a flight unit is used for qualification testing, it is called protoqualification or protoqual testing. Since the same series of tests needs to be performed for an operational flight unit, although at lower ‘acceptance’ levels, I think Robert’s implication is correct that this unit will fly, because not only is there little time to build another unit but there is not enough time for another unit to go through the acceptance tests before August.
Schedules tend to be optimistic, so if Haven-1 runs into problems during testing or launch preparations, there are likely to be delays, but I expect that, since Vast seems to be using rapid development techniques, they are very likely to overcome any problems quickly and will launch this year. I am eager to see a commercial space station operating with crews onboard.
It is perhaps just as well–only today, there was an article published that has great relevance:
“Metal alloy shows practically no thermal expansion over extremely large temperature interval.”
From Dr. Khmelevskyi of TU Vien (Vienna).
Is it to be launched on a Falcon Heavy?
DRE: Nope, the Haven-1 module is designed to fit inside a Falcon-9 fairing.