Vast wins sixth ISS slot for tourist mission
Vast’s full Haven-2 station once completed
NASA today announced that it has awarded the space station startup Vast its sixth slot for a manned commercial mission to ISS, scheduled for 2027.
The mission is expected to spend up to 14 days aboard the space station. A specific launch date will depend on overall spacecraft traffic at the orbital outpost and other planning considerations.
…Vast will submit four proposed crew members to NASA and its international partners for review. Once approved and confirmed, they will train with NASA, international partners, and SpaceX for their flight. The company has contracted with SpaceX as launch provider for transportation to and from the space station.
Vast already intends to fly four two-week missions to its single module Haven-1 demo station, scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2027. This new ISS mission will demonstrate to NASA directly that Vast can handle manned missions. In both cases, the company is hoping its actions will convince NASA to award it a full construction contract to build its Haven-2 full-sized station, as shown in the graphic to the right.
Below are my rankings of the five private commercial space stations being developed. At this point the first three (Haven, Axiom, Starlab) are essentially tied, while the fourth (Thunderbird) is only trailing because it came late to the game. The fifth, Orbital Reef, seems practically out of the game.
- Haven-1 and Haven-2, being built by Vast, with no NASA funds. The company plans to launch its single module Haven-1 demo station in 2027 for a three-year period during which it will be occupied by at least four 2-week-long manned missions. It also plans a manned mission to ISS. The company is already testing an unmanned small demo module in orbit. It has also made preliminary deals with Colombia, Uzbekistan, Japan, and the Maldives for possible astronaut flights to Haven-1.
- Axiom, being built by Axiom, has launched four tourist flights to ISS, with the fourth carrying government passengers from India, Hungary, and Poland. A fifth mission is now scheduled. The rumors of cash flow issues seem to have been alleviated with an infusion of $100 million from Hungary’s telecommunications company 4iG. The development of its first two modules has been proceeding, though the first module launch is now delayed until 2028. It has also signed Redwire to build that module’s solar panels.
- Starlab, being built by a consortium led by Voyager Space, Airbus, and Northrop Grumman, with extensive partnership agreements with the European Space Agency, Mitsubishi, and others. Though no construction has yet begun on its NASA-approved design, it has raised $383 million in a public stock offering, the $217.5 million provided by NASA, and an unstated amount from private capital. It has also begun signing up a number of companies to build the station’s hardware.
- Thunderbird, proposed by the startup Max Space. It is building a smaller demo test station to launch in ’27 on a Falcon 9 rocket, and has begun work on its manufacturing facility at Kennedy in Florida. Its management includes one former NASA astronaut and one former member of the Bigelow space station team that built the first private orbiting inflatable modules, Genesis-1, Genesis-2, and BEAM (still operating on ISS).
- Orbital Reef, being built by a consortium led by Blue Origin and Sierra Space. This station looks increasingly dead in the water. Blue Origin has built almost nothing, as seems normal for this company. And while Sierra Space has successfully tested its inflatable modules, including a full scale version, its reputation is soured by its failure in getting its Dream Chaser cargo mini-shuttle launched to ISS.
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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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
Vast’s full Haven-2 station once completed
NASA today announced that it has awarded the space station startup Vast its sixth slot for a manned commercial mission to ISS, scheduled for 2027.
The mission is expected to spend up to 14 days aboard the space station. A specific launch date will depend on overall spacecraft traffic at the orbital outpost and other planning considerations.
…Vast will submit four proposed crew members to NASA and its international partners for review. Once approved and confirmed, they will train with NASA, international partners, and SpaceX for their flight. The company has contracted with SpaceX as launch provider for transportation to and from the space station.
Vast already intends to fly four two-week missions to its single module Haven-1 demo station, scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2027. This new ISS mission will demonstrate to NASA directly that Vast can handle manned missions. In both cases, the company is hoping its actions will convince NASA to award it a full construction contract to build its Haven-2 full-sized station, as shown in the graphic to the right.
Below are my rankings of the five private commercial space stations being developed. At this point the first three (Haven, Axiom, Starlab) are essentially tied, while the fourth (Thunderbird) is only trailing because it came late to the game. The fifth, Orbital Reef, seems practically out of the game.
- Haven-1 and Haven-2, being built by Vast, with no NASA funds. The company plans to launch its single module Haven-1 demo station in 2027 for a three-year period during which it will be occupied by at least four 2-week-long manned missions. It also plans a manned mission to ISS. The company is already testing an unmanned small demo module in orbit. It has also made preliminary deals with Colombia, Uzbekistan, Japan, and the Maldives for possible astronaut flights to Haven-1.
- Axiom, being built by Axiom, has launched four tourist flights to ISS, with the fourth carrying government passengers from India, Hungary, and Poland. A fifth mission is now scheduled. The rumors of cash flow issues seem to have been alleviated with an infusion of $100 million from Hungary’s telecommunications company 4iG. The development of its first two modules has been proceeding, though the first module launch is now delayed until 2028. It has also signed Redwire to build that module’s solar panels.
- Starlab, being built by a consortium led by Voyager Space, Airbus, and Northrop Grumman, with extensive partnership agreements with the European Space Agency, Mitsubishi, and others. Though no construction has yet begun on its NASA-approved design, it has raised $383 million in a public stock offering, the $217.5 million provided by NASA, and an unstated amount from private capital. It has also begun signing up a number of companies to build the station’s hardware.
- Thunderbird, proposed by the startup Max Space. It is building a smaller demo test station to launch in ’27 on a Falcon 9 rocket, and has begun work on its manufacturing facility at Kennedy in Florida. Its management includes one former NASA astronaut and one former member of the Bigelow space station team that built the first private orbiting inflatable modules, Genesis-1, Genesis-2, and BEAM (still operating on ISS).
- Orbital Reef, being built by a consortium led by Blue Origin and Sierra Space. This station looks increasingly dead in the water. Blue Origin has built almost nothing, as seems normal for this company. And while Sierra Space has successfully tested its inflatable modules, including a full scale version, its reputation is soured by its failure in getting its Dream Chaser cargo mini-shuttle launched to ISS.
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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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
I just noticed that Axiom also had some big news today!
“Today we are excited to announce that Axiom Space has secured $350M in financing to accelerate the development of #AxiomStation – ensuring continuous U.S. human presence in low-Earth orbit post-ISS – and to deliver the #AxEMU spacesuit that will return humans to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. #TranscendEarth”
Press release: https://www.axiomspace.com/release/axiom-space-secures-350m-financing-to-accelerate-space-station-spacesuit-development
Robert wrote: “The company [Vast] plans to launch its single module Haven-1 demo station in 2027 for a three-year period during which it will be occupied by at least four 2-week-long manned missions.”
The last I heard, the 2-weeks of the manned missions to Haven-1 include two days up and two days return, making the stays aboard the space station ten days each. This makes sense to me, as (also the last I heard) Haven-1 is designed to support crews up to 40 days total duration. Four crews at ten days aboard Haven-1 for each mission extends to the total time available.
The limitation is largely due to the amount of the consumable supplies on board the station as well as the trash capacity on board. The design was purposefully limited to this duration, because Haven-2 is intended to be launched about the time of the end of the Haven-1 mission. Haven-2 is intended to be a much more serious space station, and I see on the Vast website an intention to build an Artificial Gravity Station in 2035.
https://www.vastspace.com/roadmap
News about Orbital Reef have dropped off the map, and I didn’t find references on the Blue Origin or the Sierra Space websites, and no reference to the Life module that Sierra Space was working so hard on, a couple of years ago. Am I missing something, or did I look in the wrong tabs on those sites, or what?
Since Blue Origin has announced that it is suspending New Shepard flights to concentrate on lunar landing, does that mean that they also are suspending the Orbital Reef project?
Edward: You are not missing anything. Orbital Reef has dropped off the map, which is why I say so in my rankings.
I’ve been expecting this since NASA announced early last year that there would be two PAMs awarded this go-round.
It will be interesting to see what kind of mission Vast puts together. So far Vast has been doing great building hardware but has been week on the science. Axiom has also done well with hardware, but the science is where it really shines. Pulling together real customers and flying real science payloads will be a great experience for Vast. I’m rooting for them.
Has anyone heard whether the UK was able to pull together its all-British flight for Axiom 5? That was a thing for a while, but lately talk about it has really died down, and it hasn’t picked up again since the announcement of Ax-5.
Haven-1 could perhaps serve as as a cargo craft to service the Haven-2 (real) station.
“Has anyone heard whether the UK was able to pull together its all-British flight for Axiom 5?”
A great question. I’ve heard absolutely nothing of late. I can’t think that’s a good sign. Especially given all the other negative developments in the British space sector of late.
I think Bob is right that we have three U.S. commercial station developers that are pretty closely matched — each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. And this is not an unfair characterisation of some of those for two of the players (Axiom and Vast).
The difficulty is that Phase 2 of NASA’s commercial space stations program (Commercial Destinations Development and Demonstration Objectives (C3DO)) as revised last year calls for the “[a]bility to award a minimum of two – preferably three or more – providers within six months of the release of the AFP. “* It’s not clear yet how or even if Jared Isaacman will press Congress and the White House for the funding to make three awards — or indeed if Congress will agree to fund as many as two! But I think there is great value in funding Phase 2 awards to all three, because of the need to maximize the chances of a successful and sustainable American/Western human space flight presence in low earth orbit in the 2030’s and beyond — and because it still is not clear which of these three candidates is/are the best bet(s).
But if it is possible to fund each of these three just enough to get a baseline station into orbit and operation, NASA could then conduct short (30 day plus) crew missions to each station, and then step back and evaluate the stations, the companies, operating then, and their financial prospects. And then in Phase 3, cut back down to the two best stations on these criteria, and these stations could expand to their full anticipated size and capability.
__
See “Directive on Revised Commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Destinations (CLD) Phase 2 Acquisition Strategy” by NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy, August 4, 2025.
Richard M,
I also hope NASA funds all three of the leading space station efforts. But it’s also possible – even likely – that these efforts will receive still more private sector funding in the lead-up to their initial deployments. It would be best, in my view, if NASA money proves to be a nice-to-have rather than an existential requirement for any of them. As with many other aspects of future human space activity, the sooner commercial LEO destinations can survive entirely on non-NASA revenue, the better.
Hello Dick,
I grok what you’re saying. But the one thing the leaders of all three space station companies seem to be in public agreement about is that a NASA Phase 2 award is absolutely necessary for them to get their stations off the ground. Even Max Haot has been saying this about Haven-2.
Now, once they’re in orbit, the hope is that they can move to more diversified client bases which eventually shift one or more to the point where, like SpaceX launch operations, they could survive without NASA as an anchor customer; and, concomitantly, they can get access to a similarly robust pool of venture capital. But I assume that time is going to be somewhere in the 2030’s.
I recall this brief history of commercial space stations:
Bigelow was an early entry into the industry in the early 2000s, eventually offering an X-prize for a commercial manned spacecraft to serve its expandable (inflatable) habitat modules by 2015. The prize failed, as no company met that date. Bigelow flew two free-flying test modules and attached a BEAM module to ISS. Bigelow gave us hope for a decade or so but quit the space business six years ago.
NASA offered the Commercial Low-earth-orbit Destinations (CLD) program to support proposed commercial space stations in hopes of replacing NASA’s ISS before it was decommissioned and deorbited. Four companies or consortiums (consortia?) jumped on this opportunity.
Axiom planned a four-module space station that would begin its life attached to ISS, then detach and become its own space station. Axiom’s main advantage is that it has been gaining experience by sending commercial missions to the ISS to do science work while on “tourist” (non-NASA astronaut) missions.
Northrup Grumman planned its HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) space station to be a modified Cygnus spacecraft. Partnered with Dynetics, they planned to announce additional partners later. A couple of years ago, NG gave up this plan and joined …
Starlab, a Voyager Space (once known as Nanoracks) led space station, with partners Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Mitsubishi, and now also Northrop Grumman.
Orbital Reef, a multi-module (six or so) space station led by Blue Origin and Sierra Space but also including Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Arizona State University (I looked that up). Not much news came out of Blue Origin about their work on this space station, but Sierra Space kept us updated on its Life module — which they proposed as its own station or as a module for other stations — until two years ago, which coincidentally (or not) is when they began their Dream Chaser environmental testing, which seems to have gone badly, as Orbital Reef, Dream Chaser, and Life have been dropping out of the news, except in negative ways.
Outside of CLD came a couple more proposals:
Think Orbital announced something, which I have never heard from since. Does that count? It seems to be vaporware.
Gravitics proposed Starmax, possibly a module but could be a station, but it, too, has dropped out of the news.
Vast announced its entry, intending to build an artificial gravity space station. Starting with Haven-1 to learn from, they would quickly graduate to Haven-2, a cross-shaped eight-module station. Haven-1 is nearing completion, and their qualification unit has undergone some or all environmental testing. Vast proposes its artificial gravity station for 2035.
Thunderbird, from Max Space is a recent space station proposal and is still in the news.
Mitsui has now proposed building a module — based on Japan’s HTV cargo freighter — and has proposed adding it to Axiom’s space station. I don’t know if that means that they have broken from Voyager Space and its Starlab station, and I haven’t seen Axiom put this module in its planned station.
Antariksh HAB module proposed by the Indian company, AkashaLabdhi. I haven’t heard news from this one for a while.
Starship is sometimes suggested (dreamed) by the observing public as a possible space station, but I see it more as operating as a long-duration Space Shuttle, if SpaceX is willing to do that kind of business.
That sounds like seven serious space station companies or consortia, four of which appear still viable, two vaporware stations, and one dream station.
I see a developing problem for these commercial space stations. There is currently only one viable commercial manned spacecraft to serve these stations: Dragon. Hopefully, Boeing will solve its Starliner problems and also be available. India is developing a manned spacecraft that could find these space stations as eager customers. Russia could conceivably offer its Soyuz, and if demand is high enough then they may find customers. Starship is so large and massive that it would seriously affect any currently proposed space station’s attitude control system — I really don’t see how Starship is even compatible with NASA’s Gateway lunar way-station.