Vast signs three more customers to fly payloads on its first space station
Haven-1 with docked Dragon capsule
The space station startup company Vast has now signed up three more customers to fly payloads on its first space station, Haven-1, due to launch now in the spring of 2026 on a 30-day-long private commercial manned mission.
Vast announced April 8 that Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation (JAMSS), Interstellar Lab and Exobiosphere will fly research payloads on the Haven-1 station launching no earlier than May 2026. They join Redwire and Yuri as payload partners for the station.
JAMSS, which has supported research on Japan’s Kibo module on the International Space Station, will provide a multi-purpose payload facility for microgravity research on Haven-1. Interstellar Lab, a French company, will provide an advanced life sciences research facility called Eden 1.0 that will be used for experiments such as plant growth. Exobiosphere, based in Luxembourg, will fly a biotechnology payload to perform pharmaceutical and healthcare experiments.
The company says it still has one or two payload racks available for additional customers, suggesting that it is finding enough demand to justify profitable commercial operations.
Below are the four private space stations presently under development, with those I consider the most advanced in development ranked first:
- Haven-1, being built by Vast, with no NASA funds. The company is moving fast, with Haven-1 to launch and be occupied in 2026 for a 30 day mission. It hopes this actual hardware and manned mission will put it in the lead to win NASA’s phase 2 contract, from which it will build its much larger mult-module Haven-2 station..
- Axiom, being built by Axiom, has launched three tourist flights to ISS, with a fourth scheduled for this spring, carrying passengers from India, Hungary, and Poland. Though there have been rumors it has cash flow issues, development of its first module has been proceeding more or less as planned.
- Orbital Reef, being built by a consortium led by Blue Origin and Sierra Space. Though Blue Origin has apparently done little, Sierra Space has successfully tested its inflatable modules, including a full scale version, and appears ready to start building the station’s modules for launch.
- Starlab, being built by a consortium led by Voyager Space, Airbus, and Northrop Grumman. It recently had its station design approved by NASA.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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Haven-1 with docked Dragon capsule
The space station startup company Vast has now signed up three more customers to fly payloads on its first space station, Haven-1, due to launch now in the spring of 2026 on a 30-day-long private commercial manned mission.
Vast announced April 8 that Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation (JAMSS), Interstellar Lab and Exobiosphere will fly research payloads on the Haven-1 station launching no earlier than May 2026. They join Redwire and Yuri as payload partners for the station.
JAMSS, which has supported research on Japan’s Kibo module on the International Space Station, will provide a multi-purpose payload facility for microgravity research on Haven-1. Interstellar Lab, a French company, will provide an advanced life sciences research facility called Eden 1.0 that will be used for experiments such as plant growth. Exobiosphere, based in Luxembourg, will fly a biotechnology payload to perform pharmaceutical and healthcare experiments.
The company says it still has one or two payload racks available for additional customers, suggesting that it is finding enough demand to justify profitable commercial operations.
Below are the four private space stations presently under development, with those I consider the most advanced in development ranked first:
- Haven-1, being built by Vast, with no NASA funds. The company is moving fast, with Haven-1 to launch and be occupied in 2026 for a 30 day mission. It hopes this actual hardware and manned mission will put it in the lead to win NASA’s phase 2 contract, from which it will build its much larger mult-module Haven-2 station..
- Axiom, being built by Axiom, has launched three tourist flights to ISS, with a fourth scheduled for this spring, carrying passengers from India, Hungary, and Poland. Though there have been rumors it has cash flow issues, development of its first module has been proceeding more or less as planned.
- Orbital Reef, being built by a consortium led by Blue Origin and Sierra Space. Though Blue Origin has apparently done little, Sierra Space has successfully tested its inflatable modules, including a full scale version, and appears ready to start building the station’s modules for launch.
- Starlab, being built by a consortium led by Voyager Space, Airbus, and Northrop Grumman. It recently had its station design approved by NASA.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Tour the World’s First Commercial Space Station. I have been in the ISS simulator modules, but this is like going into an RV. Not that is is bad. I am surprised there is not a second hatch to the first for an airlock. Good luck to them.
Robert Zimmerman,
“ 30-day-long private commercial manned mission.”
My understanding is that Vast intends to fly up to four different missions, each about a week or two long. A tour given by the CEO of Vast to NASASpaceflight, a few months back, said that there are forty CO2 scrubber cartridges that are replaced each day, so the upper limit is forty days of total occupation across the four missions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us_V_e0-NVs#t=440 (CO2 canister discussion)
Another limiting factor is that they have five or six wet-trash cans. There is no cargo capacity on board the Crew Dragon capsule to remove the trash or to bring up another trash can, so when they are all full, Haven-1 can host no more missions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us_V_e0-NVs#t=932 (wet-trash canister discussion)
Haven-1 has a built-in lifespan, which Vast expects is three years, at which time Haven-2 should be on orbit and ready for use.
From the article:
That is new information. So far Axiom has been the only company to fly these missions, but now Vast intends to compete for at least one, too.
https://spacenews.com/nasa-seeks-proposals-for-two-private-astronaut-missions-to-iss/
Also new information, as NASA previously required a former NASA astronaut lead these kinds of private missions.
Edward: This is new information to me. I had not read anywhere that they were going to do a series of short missions, only that they planned one long mission.
I suspect the final flights and lengths will be determined by demand, which is why the numbers have changed but remain somewhat vague.
As for Vast wanting to do tourist missions to ISS, this is not new. See:
Vast signs deal with SpaceX for two ISS tourist missions
Jay, I couldn’t get your link to work. What company is it? Vast?
Hi Patrick,
Yes, my bad. It is Vast. They recently put out a video of a tour of their station.
Robert Zimmerman,
What a short memory that I have. I guess that now the new information is that NASA has made the call for proposals for these additional PAM missions (Private Astronaut Mission) and without requiring the NASA astronaut in command.
Private commercial manned space is making advancements despite the loss of Bigelow Aerospace and its habitats.
Thanks Jay. Imho Vast is way ahead of Axiom, and I suspect a big reason for that is not having to deal with NASA and the ISS. And the other companies are most likely to drop out eventually.
But I’m a cranky old cynic.
Edward,
NASA will not be requiring a former NASA astronaut on future private ISS missions, but it will still require an experienced astronaut on such flights. But now it can be a former JAXA or ESA astronaut. Baby steps.
Patrick Underwood,
Vast is way ahead of Axiom because it was founded by a businessman and not a former bureaucrat. One consequence of this is that Vast is much more vertically integrated than Axiom. Axiom pays a slow and pricey European aerospace company to build its big stuff. Vast – quite literally – rolls its own.