Vast delays launch of Haven-1 space module to May 2026
Haven-1 with docked Dragon capsule
The space station startup Vast yesterday announced that it had revised its overall schedule, delaying the launch of its Haven-1 space module from August 2025 to May 2026.
Based on their testing program this delay had become increasingly expected. They have only now begu testing of the primary structure qualification article of this module, with it passing its first pressure tests. Vibration testing is still to come. This makes the August 2025 target date impossible.
The plan now is to begin construction of the actual module as soon as this testing is complete in about a month, with the primary structure ready in July. Integration and testing will then follow to be completed by March 2026.
The launch of Haven-1 on a Falcon 9 rocket is now targeting May 2026, with its 30-day four-person crewed mission to launch no earlier than the end of June 2026.
As the company notes,
Vast was founded in 2021. At the time, NASA had already launched the CLD program and awarded funding to [three] other [space station] companies. Recognizing the need for a leapfrog strategy, we developed Haven-1 to set us apart. When NASA selects its partner(s) to carry forward its low-Earth orbit (LEO) legacy, we will be the only company operating a crewed space station—one we designed, built, tested, and verified for safety entirely in-house.
…Every lesson learned from Haven-1 will be applied to our CLD Phase II proposal—Haven-2. No team will have more operational experience than Vast. No design will carry as much flight heritage. No company will be better positioned to deliver for NASA as fast—thanks to our work and over $1 billion investment in Haven-1 ahead of CLD Phase II.
This strategy all depends of course on getting Haven-1 launched as planned. Based on the company’s operations so far, the odds appear high that it will meet this new schedule. There are no guarantees however.
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
Haven-1 with docked Dragon capsule
The space station startup Vast yesterday announced that it had revised its overall schedule, delaying the launch of its Haven-1 space module from August 2025 to May 2026.
Based on their testing program this delay had become increasingly expected. They have only now begu testing of the primary structure qualification article of this module, with it passing its first pressure tests. Vibration testing is still to come. This makes the August 2025 target date impossible.
The plan now is to begin construction of the actual module as soon as this testing is complete in about a month, with the primary structure ready in July. Integration and testing will then follow to be completed by March 2026.
The launch of Haven-1 on a Falcon 9 rocket is now targeting May 2026, with its 30-day four-person crewed mission to launch no earlier than the end of June 2026.
As the company notes,
Vast was founded in 2021. At the time, NASA had already launched the CLD program and awarded funding to [three] other [space station] companies. Recognizing the need for a leapfrog strategy, we developed Haven-1 to set us apart. When NASA selects its partner(s) to carry forward its low-Earth orbit (LEO) legacy, we will be the only company operating a crewed space station—one we designed, built, tested, and verified for safety entirely in-house.
…Every lesson learned from Haven-1 will be applied to our CLD Phase II proposal—Haven-2. No team will have more operational experience than Vast. No design will carry as much flight heritage. No company will be better positioned to deliver for NASA as fast—thanks to our work and over $1 billion investment in Haven-1 ahead of CLD Phase II.
This strategy all depends of course on getting Haven-1 launched as planned. Based on the company’s operations so far, the odds appear high that it will meet this new schedule. There are no guarantees however.
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
That was a very informative press release. It gives details that I have not seen before.
They chose to not use their qualification unit as their flight unit. Using it was the only way they could have intended to launch this summer. Building a different flight unit is the reason for the nine month slip in launch date. It is not clear why they chose to not fly the qualification unit, but it is now clear that the August launch date was for the qualification unit to fly.
I can think of two reasons for this decision: First, they found some issue that makes the safety risk unacceptably high and are correcting it on the flight unit. Second, potential customers want some changes that cannot be accommodated within the current qualification unit.
I think that the most likely reason for their change in plans is one of the reasons that I have not thought of.
From the press release:
I’ll say. It is an ambitious timeline. When I was building geostationary communication satellites, we were trying to become more competitive by getting the process from contract signature to launch to be below thirty months, and we were using established and flown designs for the core of the satellite. Vast is trying to design, develop, and launch a new operational space station module in only thirty-six months. The schedule presented in the press release is as aggressive as advertised, especially for development. You have my permission to be impressed.
It is clear to me that they have designed the manufacturing and verification processes while designing the unit. A few decades ago this was called “concurrent engineering,” getting all the departments together during the design phase, like a holistic design method. Blue Origin did not do this, and it took them a few years to get their BE-4 engine production rate up to speed, delaying two of America’s important rockets and allowing the Falcons to launch payloads that could have gone to New Glenn and Vulcan.
Like SpaceX, Vast is vertically integrated.*
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* In business, “vertically integrated” means that most or all of the manufacturing or processes occur within the company. “Horizontally integrated” means that many, most, or all of the parts come from vendors. A major advantage of vertical integration is control over the difficult to obtain materials and over the manufacturing. SpaceX is vertically integrated, making its own engines as well as rocket fuselages. A major advantage of horizontal integration is saving the cost of developing existing hardware or methods, avoiding “reinventing the wheel.” Many heritage rocket companies buy their engines and electronics from other companies but often make their own fuselages.
In the space launch business, “vertical integration” means that the launch vehicle is vertical when assembled or when the payload is mounted to the vehicle. The Saturn V was assembled this way, and the Apollo spacecraft was mounted vertically, which is why the VAB at Kennedy was originally called the Vertical Assembly Building. The U.S. government has traditionally preferred this vertical assembly method, and this is how SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy are fabricated, transported, stacked and loaded with payload. “Horizontal integration” means that the vehicle is assembled on its side and the payload is mounted while the vehicle is horizontal, then the launch vehicle with the payload and fairings is lifted to vertical at the launch pad. Russia and Europe have traditionally done it this way, and the Falcons do it this way.
Edward: You might be aware of this already, but many of the people involved in Vast are former SpaceX employees. The company has very clearly adopted the same development and manufacturing philosophies.
SpaceX employees do seem to be getting around the rest of the space business. I think that is a good thing, as Vast is showing us. SpaceX seems to be a good training ground for the future of the space industry, and if they can train even more people in rapid development and other philosophies that are coming out of that company, then that is even better.
Edward,
I think what happened was just that the qualification unit took longer to build than Vast expected. I think they had been hoping to do this testing last year.
Richard M wrote: “I think what happened was just that the qualification unit took longer to build than Vast expected. I think they had been hoping to do this testing last year.”
Possibly, and this explanation may use fewer assumptions than mine, satisfying Occam’s razor. It also explains why the qualification unit was not called “protoqualification” in previous press releases. The Vast press release does not say when they will start or did start manufacture on their flight unit, only that its completion is expected in July, and if they began that construction shortly after they completed construction of the qualification unit, then Richard is correct.
From the press release:
This would explain why they kept the August 2025 launch date for so long after they realized that the flight unit would not be ready by then. They may have chosen to not announce a delay until they had an achievable new date (aggressive though it may be).