With Haven-1, a cylinder measuring four meters in diameter and ten meters long, the American company FAST enters the race to build the world’s first private space station.
The project, which features a wood-paneled interior and a large ground-based observation dome, is scheduled to launch in May 2026. The space is designed to be comfortable, Andrew Feustel, a former NASA astronaut and current consultant to FAST, told AFP during an event in Lisbon, Portugal.
“It will have a useful life of three years, during which we plan to send a team of four four times,” adds Fostell, who has spent more than 200 days in space throughout his career.
Founded in 2021 by billionaire Jed McCaleb, Vast has a long-term ambition to replace the International Space Station (ISS), which will be decommissioned in 2030, with Haven-2, a larger version of Haven-1.
The California-based company competes in this sector with Axiom Space, Voyager Space (which works with Airbus), and Jeff Bezos’ company, Blue Origin, which partners with Sierra Space.
They are all seeking funding from NASA, in amounts that could range from US$1 billion to US$1.5 billion (R$5.3 billion to R$8 billion), to develop commercial space stations, for which funds will be allocated in April 2026.
“There is political will,” says Ugo Bonnet, director general of the Spaceflight Institute, which provides training for future astronauts for private crewed flights. “Space agencies do not want to have to manage the infrastructure (of the International Space Station).”
NASA wants to focus on its manned missions to Moon and Mars exploration projects, as the Americans consider China their main competitor in the space race. All this represents a great opportunity for private companies.
There are many actors who arrive on “very strict schedules,” says Roberto Angelini, science and exploration director at Thales Alenia Space.
The joint venture between Thales and Italy’s Leonardo is building the three pressurized modules of the future Axiom space station, which could be operational in 2028, and has signed a cooperation agreement to potentially participate in the manufacturing of Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef station.
The US space agency spends between US$3 billion and US$4 billion (R$16 billion and R$21.2 billion) annually to keep the ISS in orbit, two-thirds of which is used for refueling.
The arrival of reusable launchers from Elon Musk’s SpaceX company has revolutionized the sector, reducing the cost of transportation and easing the path to private space station projects.
Vast plans to use SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to launch Haven-1. Axiom Space’s private astronauts will travel on Musk’s Crew Dragon capsule.
To run a commercial space station, companies rely on growing demand from governments and the private sector.
Fast estimates that 85% of its crewed mission revenues will come from government agencies and 15% from private sector customers. The idea is to become a service provider not only to the United States, but to other countries that want to “send their astronauts into low Earth orbit for training and research,” according to Feustel.
He adds that the Czech Republic and dozens of other countries have already expressed interest in cooperating with the company. Potential private customers include research institutes, hospitals and companies that want to conduct experiments or manufacture products in space.
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