As Race To Replace Space Station Heats Up, California Company Bets On Haven-1

As the International Space Station (ISS) approaches its retirement, the race to build the next generation of space stations is heating up, particularly in the commercial sector. Leading the charge is Max Haot, the CEO of VAST Space, a company dedicated to creating a commercial space station named Haven-1.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Mr Haot shared insights into the unique aspects of Haven-1, the competition with other entities like Axiom and India, and the potential for collaboration with ISRO.

"We're going through an era where the current International Space Station is one of the most expensive objects ever created by humans, about $150 billion," Mr Haot said. "And we are now transitioning to an era where the commercial space stations are run by commercial entities, not by the government. The two key criteria are safety and dramatically lowering the cost."

NASA is running a competition called the Commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Destination (CLD) program, where in July 2026, they are expected to pick one or two winners to develop the replacement for the ISS. 

Mr Haot emphasised VAST Space's unique strategy: to build a commercial space station before NASA makes its decision. "No one has ever built a commercial space station yet. And we want to build one before NASA makes the decision."

The space station, named Haven-1, integrates with the Crew Dragon spacecraft of SpaceX and is set to launch on a single Falcon 9 rocket in May 2026.

"It is a single module space station that can house a crew of four with important science, Starlink internet, sleeping berths, and all the consumables to live there on a two-week mission. It will be in orbit for three years. During that time, we will have four two-week missions with the Dragon spacecraft," he said.

Mr Haot explained that the main reason for building Haven-1 is to win the NASA competition to develop a much larger space station composed of nine modules. "We believe that if we are selected in July 2026, we will have the first module up for NASA and other international partners in orbit by the end of 2028, a year ahead of what NASA requires. More importantly, it will allow NASA and its partners to test the replacement with a two-year overlap before the retirement of the ISS."

When asked about the cost, Mr Haot highlighted the significant reduction compared to the ISS. "VAST is investing a billion dollars by the time we fly Haven-1 next year, in private funding and some of our customer revenue. We've developed all the facilities, all the technologies. We have about 850 people in our California, Los Angeles facility."

He emphasised the efficiency of vertical integration in reducing costs and speeding up development. "We can make the next module not only quicker - in two and a half years instead of three - but at a much lower cost because we build everything from the primary structure to a lot of the systems in-house."

The competition in the commercial space sector is fierce, with Axiom Space being a notable contender. Axiom plans to link its module to the ISS, but Mr Haot believes VAST Space has an edge. "They started a long time before us, but I think the facts are telling us they're going much slower. Their stated strategy is to launch that module in 2027. If we achieve our goal, we're already at least one year earlier than them."

Mr Haot pointed out the strategic advantage of building a free-flyer space station that does not rely on the ISS. "We are building a free flyer, which does not need the ISS and can be standalone, regardless of what happens to the ISS."

India is also entering the space station race with plans to launch its first module of the Bhartiya Antariksha Station by 2028.

Mr Haot sees potential for collaboration rather than competition. "Absolutely. India might have more interest in training more astronauts before its space station. That could be an interesting discussion - to maybe bring an Indian astronaut to Haven-1."