SpaceX, Vast to put first commercial space station in orbit
SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk attends a post-launch news conference to discuss the SpaceX Crew Dragon astronaut capsule in-flight abort test at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US January 19, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS
With the help of SpaceX, artificial gravity space station startup Vast aims to put the first commercial space station in orbit in August 2025.
SpaceX will use its Falcon Rocket 9 to send Vast's main module, Haven-1into low-Earth orbit.
Once launched, Haven-1 will shortly be joined by a larger Vast-1 module, followed by a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft with four astronauts. The crew will then stay in space for 30 days and work on the main station before returning to Earth.
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Tom Ochinero, Senior Vice President of Commercial Business at SpaceX, says, "A commercial rocket launching a commercial spacecraft with commercial astronauts to a commercial space station is the future of low-Earth orbit, and with Vast, we're taking another step toward making that future a reality."
As per Vast, the expected customers for this flight will include domestic and international space agencies and private individuals involved in science and philanthropic projects.