Humans have been living and working aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since 2000, but like every piece of aging machinery, the orbital outpost has a limited lifespan.
In fact, the ISS only has about seven years left until it’ll be decommissioned and nudged into a rapid descent to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
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Keen for its astronauts to continue living and working in near-Earth orbit, NASA is encouraging private companies to develop their own space stations for deployment.
Next year could be a pivotal one for the endeavor to replace the ISS as California-based Vast Space is planning to deploy the Haven-1, an astronaut-ready single-module facility that’s on track to become the first commercial space station to reach orbit.
Vast Space hopes that if it can achieve a successful deployment of the Haven-1 module, including putting astronauts aboard, it will bolster its bid for NASA’s Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Destination (CLD) Phase II program, which in 2026 will select at least two providers to build commercial space stations for orbital operations.
A nod from NASA would pave the way for the Haven-2 facility, a more complex, multi-module station that Vast Space says could begin deployment in 2028 and be completed by 2032.
“Haven-2 is being designed with compatibility in mind, ensuring that international partners can integrate seamlessly into this next-generation platform,” Andrew Feustel, a Vast adviser and veteran NASA astronaut, said recently. “This vision of global cooperation in space will create opportunities for scientific and technological advancements, benefiting new and current sovereign partners, as well as industries around the world.”
Other companies aiming to build a space station and vying to be selected by NASA in the CLD Phase II program include Blue Origin, which is leading a consortium that includes Sierra Space, Boeing, and Redwire for the Orbital Reef facility; Voyager Space and Nanoracks in partnership with Airbus Defense and Space for the Starlab Space Station; and Axiom Space, which has been gaining experience in recent years through its private astronaut missions to the ISS.
The NASA selections are key, but it’s Vast Space that’s aiming to push such a project forward in a big way in the next 12 months by becoming the first to deploy a commercial space station in near-Earth orbit.