A company from California wants to put the first private space station into space in two years, and shortly after that the first tourists will fly there. Anyone who is interested – and has the wherewithal – can now ask the company called Vast how much one of the four places on board a Dragon capsule and up to 30 days in space should cost. The price expectations are not publicly known. According to the current announcement, Vast wants to send Haven-1 into space “at the earliest in August 2025” together with the US space company SpaceX. In the long term, she wants to build a 100 meter long space station later. Artificial gravity is even supposed to be generated there by turning.
Even faster than Blue Origin?
Haven-1 is to be launched with SpaceX’s reliable Falcon 9 rocket, so Vast is not yet relying on the huge Starship that Elon Musk’s company is currently developing. The Dragon space capsule should be able to dock with it, and four people should be able to stay in space for up to 30 days in the resulting space. There they should have 1000 W and continuous communication options with the earth. Vast promises a payload of 150 kg as well as WiFi and space to move and rest. SpaceX has now not only ordered the two flights into space, but also an option for a second mission with a crew. The schedule still sounds very ambitious.
Vast is based in Long Beach, California, which is part of Los Angeles County. Just a few weeks ago, the company took over a space startup called Launcher, and since then Vast has also owned a production facility in nearby Hawthorne. SpaceX also has its headquarters and a rocket factory there. With the planned space station, Vast wants to participate in the expected boom in space tourism. The announcement of wanting to build a 100 m long space station in the long term is particularly ambitious. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space company convinced NASA last fall that the planned Orbital Reef space station is “feasible and achievable” – it should be operational by 2027.
(my)
