The first commercial space station in the world will be launched by SpaceX as early as 2025, with the aim of creating a complex of several modules.
According to SpaceX, the Vast Haven-1 space station will launch into low Earth orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket as early as August 2025. It will perform the duties of a stand-alone space station with crew, and in the future will be connected to a larger Vast space station.
Vast, a company established in 2021, intends to someday create a 100-meter-long multi-module rotating artificial gravity space station.
“A commercial rocket launching a commercial spacecraft with commercial astronauts to a commercial space station is the future of low-Earth orbit, and with Vast we’re taking another step toward making that future a reality,” Tom Ochinero, the senior vice president of commercial business at SpaceX, said in a statement.
“The SpaceX team couldn’t be more excited to launch Vast’s Haven-1 and support their follow-on human spaceflight missions to the orbiting commercial space station.”
Two human spaceflight trips to the space station will be launched by SpaceX after the launch. While orbiting Earth, the first mission will dock with Haven-1 for up to 30 days. Haven-1 will provide opportunities for science and research, as well as amenities such as a “large window dome for viewing and photography” and “always-on internet via on-board Wi-Fi”
Up to four crewed seats on that first mission will be made available by Vast to “domestic and international space agencies and private individuals involved in science and philanthropic projects.” The price was not immediately made public, although those seats can be reserved online.
SpaceX has been transporting people into space for several years, including transporting civilians in 2021 and working with NASA this year to transport four astronauts to the International Space Station.
In addition to these missions, there are a number of companies looking at the future of space tourism, such as the French space company that plans to send tourists into the stratosphere in 2025, with six-hour rides starting at about $132,000 per person; and Space Perspective, which plans to take tourists to the stars in a carbon-neutral spherical capsule with 360-degree views by 2024.
When Orbital Assembly’s Voyager station finally opens, visitors who want to stay a little longer may soon have the opportunity to stay overnight.