Jun 11, 2025Now is the time to meet NASA's call to transition its low-Earth orbit presence from the International Space Station (ISS) to a lower-cost commercial option. Vast is ready to deliver for America and our international partners. We will be delivering the world's first, most affordable, commercial space station in 2026: Haven-1.Haven-1 will be Vast's first step toward a long-term commercial presence in orbit.Purpose-built for scientific research, in-space manufacturing, and human habitation, Haven-1 will ensure humanity’s presence in low-Earth orbit. Backed by a world-class team and built with speed, safety, and efficiency at its core, this marks the next era in human space exploration—not just reaching orbit, but staying there.Learn more about how we are making it happen.
Experience Haven-1, the world’s first commercial space station, in virtual reality (VR): http://vastspace.com/haven-1-vr Join @Astro_Feustel, former @NASA Acting Chief Astronaut and Lead Astronaut at Vast, as he narrates the immersive journey through the next-generation space-station, launching in May 2026.Haven-1 VR is officially available for download from Meta, the App Store, and Steam.
Last week, Haven Demo, our in-orbit test bed for critical space station technologies, completed vibration testing. This testing simulates the dynamic quasi-static loads and vibration with 3 dB, or 50% more input power, than the spacecraft will experience during launch. This proves margin and gives us high confidence that the spacecraft will survive the rigors of the launch environment.We are now one step closer to flight readiness, with this test verifying Haven Demo’s structural integrity for launch.
Risk Mitigation Through Flight Heritage: The Haven-Demo MissionTo mitigate the immense technical and financial risk of launching a billion-dollar crewed station as its first major project, VAST is executing a crucial precursor mission: Haven-Demo. Scheduled for launch in late 2025, Haven-Demo is a 500 kg satellite that will serve as an in-orbit testbed for Haven-1’s most critical non-pressurized subsystems.The mission’s objective is to test and validate the performance of Haven-1’s propulsion, avionics, flight computers, power systems, guidance and control software, and communication radios in the actual space environment. By flying these components first on a much smaller, less expensive spacecraft—costing in the single-digit millions compared to the billion-dollar price tag for Haven-1—VAST can identify and resolve any issues before they are integrated into the crewed vehicle. This approach is designed to raise the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of these systems to TRL 9, or “flight proven,” significantly de-risking the Haven-1 launch and demonstrating a prudent, methodical approach to engineering development.
Haven Demo moves into the Thermal Vacuum chamber (TVAC), where we simulate the extreme temperatures and vacuum conditions of space. This test allows our team to replicate vehicle operations in space and gain valuable insights that will help us prepare for Haven Demo being in-orbit.
We’re running the final qualification milestone of a critical piece of flight hardware for Haven Demo: the Power Distribution Unit (PDU).The PDU is responsible for distributing battery and solar power to the avionics, propulsion, and communication systems that control the satellite. It protects the satellite by isolating faulty circuits, so that the vehicle can keep operating during the mission.This final test is the thermal vacuum (TVAC), where we are testing the PDU at temperatures more extreme than what it will see in low-Earth orbit.
There's also a Haven Demo presentation on July 13th.
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