September 06, 2024

This Week in Space 127: Space Stations Inc.

1 hour 7 minutes

We all know the ISS is living its last days and will be deorbited sometime around 2030... but what's coming up next? For episode 127, Max Haot of VAST joins us to discuss his company's first space station, called Haven-1, set to launch in 2025. For a company just just a few years old, VAST has made impressive progress toward what is likely to be the first private crewed space station in history. Subsequent plans include a larger orbital habitat with artificial gravity and much more. It's an exciting time in Space 2.0, and companies like VAST are leading the way! Join us for this fascinating hour.

Headlines:

- Boeing Starliner update: Undocking and landing plans, tension between Boeing and NASA over thruster issues, crew flight delayed to August 2025

- Blue Origin unveils landing ship Jaclyn (named after Jeff Bezos' mom) and moves New Glenn second stage to launch pad for testing, targeting October launch for NASA's Escapade Mars mission

- NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) CubeSat deploys solar sail and begins navigation tests

Main Topic: VAST with CEO Max Haot

- Max shares his background in software development and his journey to becoming the CEO of VAST

- VAST aims to create a future where more humans live in space than on Earth by developing artificial gravity space stations

- The company's near-term goal is to win NASA's Commercial LEO Destination (CLD) program to become a commercial successor to the ISS

- VAST is developing Haven-1, its first space station module, to be launched by 2026 and visited by a crew of four for two weeks as a proof of concept

- Haven-1 will provide a larger volume and better amenities compared to free-flying SpaceX Dragon missions, allowing customers to enjoy a more comfortable two-week stay in orbit

- VAST is working closely with SpaceX and will use Starlink laser terminals for high-speed, low-latency connectivity on Haven-1

- The long-term vision is to build a large, rotating space station consisting of seven Starship modules to create artificial gravity, though many technical challenges remain

- Max emphasizes the importance of building a strong company culture and the ability to develop safe, human-rated systems at a low cost

- Upcoming milestones for VAST include revealing Haven-1's primary structure and interior design, launching a demo satellite, and selecting the crew for the first Haven-1 mission

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Max Haot

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