MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Vast Space has started testing a qualification model of its first commercial space station but has pushed back the launch of that station into 2026.
Vast announced Feb. 6 that it started testing the primary structure qualification article for its Haven-1 station at a facility in Mojave, California. That included a proof test where the module was pressurized to 1.8 times its normal pressure as well as a leak test.
“On the first try we passed that critical test,” Max Haot, chief executive of Vast, said of the proof test in an interview. The company noted in a statement that there was an “indiscernible” leak rate during the 48-hour leak test.
Vast has more tests planned of the qualification article in the coming weeks. They include structural load tests and simulations of the environment the module will experience during launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9.
Haot said successfully completing the initial tests, though, is a key milestone for the company and provides clarity for the work ahead on Haven-1. “It’s a big milestone for us that also derisks the rest of the program,” he said. “We know how long it will take us to build a flight article now. We know there’s no fundamental issue with the pressure side. So, we were able to update the timeline based on the progress we’ve made.”
When Vast announced Haven-1 in May 2023, the company projected a launch of the single-module station for as soon as August 2025. In an October 2024 interview about its larger Haven-2 station, Haot said the company was still targeting a launch in the second half of 2025.
Vast now says that Haven-1 will launch no earlier than May 2026, which Haot said was based on the company’s better understanding of what it would take to build the flight model after completing the qualification article. “We wanted to reach this milestone to make sure the schedule doesn’t move again.”
Under the revised schedule, Vast expects to complete the primary structure of the flight article in July and perform integration and testing in the second half of the year. The company has an agreement to then perform environmental testing of Haven-1 at the Neil Armstrong Test Facility, formerly Plum Brook Station, in Ohio. From there, the module will go to Florida for a launch in May 2026. The first crew would then launch to Haven-1 on a Crew Dragon spacecraft no earlier than the end of June.
One reason Vast decided to develop Haven-1 was to gain experience for the larger Haven-2 space station it plans to propose to the second phase of NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations, or CLD, program to support work on commercial stations that will succeed the International Space Station. NASA currently projects selecting companies for phase 2 CLD contracts in the summer of 2026, around the time Haven-1 begins operations.
Haot said that approach still works for Vast even if NASA makes a decision on the next phase of CLD before Haven-1 launches. “We couldn’t even bid a credible Haven-2 design if we had not done all this work in design maturation for Haven-1,” he said, noting that the first Haven-2 module will be a stretched version of the Haven-1 module with 80% to 90% common elements. “Regardless of the CLD dynamic, that makes a lot of sense.”
Incremental progress in the development and testing of Haven-1, he added, also backs the company’s case for a phase 2 award. “All the progress we make towards a safe on-orbit space station, well ahead of our competition, is helping,” he said, adding that he thought Vast “still has a shot” of flying a first crew to Haven-1 before NASA makes its selections.
Vast, unlike competitors such as Axiom Space, Blue Origin and Starlab, does not have a funded agreement with NASA to support work on its station, but does have an unfunded Space Act Agreement that gives NASA insight into the company’s progress on Haven-1. “The perception is that we are going faster than they expected,” he said. “Maybe not faster than we said, but faster than they expected.”
