US space company Vast is building the integrated space station Haven-1

Operations for the International Space Station (ISS) are scheduled to end in 2030. According to the US space agency NASA's vision, a private space company should build its successor. The company Vast has, according to its own statements, begun setting up the station. It is scheduled to fly into space next year.

The primary structure was recently completed, Vast CEO Max Haot told the US online magazine Ars Technica. Next, the systems for temperature control and life support, as well as the propulsion including the tanks, will be integrated in the cleanroom.

After pressure, leak, and function tests, systems for control and navigation, as well as air purification hardware, will be installed. Finally, the shields against radiation and micrometeorites, as well as the solar panels for power supply, will be attached.

Launch early 2027

Haven-1 is expected to be finished in the fall. NASA will then subject it to extensive tests, Haot said. The launch is planned for the first quarter of 2027, and a Falcon 9 launch vehicle from the US space company SpaceX will bring it into orbit. The launch will be unmanned, according to Haot. A crew is scheduled to fly to the station shortly thereafter with a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Haven-1 will consist of a 10-meter-long module that can accommodate four people. It will be "the world's first commercial space station," the company announced.

Haven-1 is the precursor to the larger station Haven-2, planned by Vast. This will consist of multiple modules. The biggest difference to Haven-1 is that it will have two docking ports: one for space transporters and one for another module, Haot said. Haven-2 is expected to be operational in the early 2030s.

(wpl)