# Vast **Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/vast **Vertical:** Aerospace **Subcategory:** Commercial Space Stations **Tier:** Emerging **Website:** vastspace.com **Last Updated:** 2026-04-14 ## Summary Building commercial space stations. Haven Demo flew 3 months in orbit (2025-2026). Haven-1 crew launch May 2026. $500M raised (Mar 2026). Founded 2021 by Jed McCaleb. ## Company Overview Vast is a commercial space station company founded in 2021 by Jed McCaleb, the entrepreneur behind Ripple and Stellar, with a mission to build privately owned and operated habitats in low Earth orbit. As NASA's International Space Station approaches decommissioning, Vast is positioned to provide a successor commercial destination for astronauts, researchers, and private space travelers. The company is building a family of modular space stations designed to serve as research platforms, manufacturing facilities, and eventually long-duration human habitation in orbit — the next phase of human spaceflight infrastructure.\n\nVast's initial product is Haven-1, a single-module commercial space station designed for short-duration crew missions. Haven-1 is scheduled for a crewed launch in May 2026 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon, making it the first commercial space station to host astronauts. A demonstration version of the Haven module completed a three-month uncrewed orbital mission between 2025 and 2026, validating the platform's life support, power, and structural systems in orbit. Vast is also developing Haven-2, a larger multi-module station intended for longer-duration research and commercial operations.\n\nVast raised $500M in March 2026, bringing total capitalization to over $500M and enabling the company to accelerate station development and expand its mission manifest. The company has partnered with SpaceX for launch and crew transportation services. Vast is competing with Axiom Space and Blue Origin's Orbital Reef project for the commercial space station market, which NASA is funding through its Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations (CLD) program as a deliberate strategy to transition human spaceflight from government-owned to commercially operated infrastructure. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Haven-1? First commercial space station, May 2026 launch. 4 crew for 2 weeks via SpaceX Dragon. ### Has Vast flown a spacecraft? Yes — Haven Demo operated 3 months in orbit (Nov 2025 - Feb 2026), the only commercial station company to do so. ### How much has Vast raised? $500M (March 2026) from Qatar Investment Authority, Mitsui, Nikon. ### What is Haven-2? Multi-module ISS successor planned for 2028 launch on Falcon Heavy. ### What makes Vast different from Axiom Space? Vast Space is founder-funded by Jed McCaleb without relying on venture capital, moves faster with a leaner structure, and focuses on building its own complete station (not ISS-attached modules) from the start. ### What research capabilities will Haven-1 support? Haven-1 will support microgravity research, in-space manufacturing experiments, pharmaceutical development, and Earth observation, targeting both government research agencies and private commercial customers. ### What is the long-term vision for Vast? Vast aims to build progressively larger space stations enabling permanent human presence in orbit, eventually supporting space manufacturing at scale and serving as infrastructure for cislunar and deep space activities. ### Who are Vast's target customers? Vast targets NASA and other space agencies seeking ISS successor capabilities, private research institutions, and individual private astronaut customers seeking premium space station access. ## Tags hardware, manufacturing, b2b --- *Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*