As the International Space Station approaches its scheduled death date in 2030, several planned commercial stations hope to fill the void and become the premier lab-for-profit in low Earth orbit. SpaceX and Vast announced on Tuesday that they are requesting science experiments for Haven-1, the first commercial space station.
The aerospace companies are seeking experiments investigating the effect of microgravity on the human body or research payloads that can ride along with planned missions to Haven-1, according to Space.com. The approved projects will receive free-of-charge access to the orbital laboratory, on-orbit crew time, and support for project design and flight qualification. However, the researchers will still have to cover the project’s direct cost. In a statement, Vast CEO Max Haot said:
“The Haven-1 Lab provides a revolutionary platform for advancing collaborative efforts in science, research, and in-space manufacturing innovation. By partnering with the scientific community, we aim to build on the invaluable legacy research on the ISS, enabling pioneering research to address real-world solutions and pursuing transformative research opportunities to address and eventually overcome some of the most critical health and scientific challenges of space exploration—challenges that also hold the potential to improve life on Earth.”
Haven-1 is expected to launch into orbit this year and have a lifespan of three years. Vast plans on operating four 10-day missions over the station’s life. Between missions, the station will be unoccupied for up to nine months. The private space venture is already working on Haven-2, a much larger modular station that it touts as an ISS successor. Offering free station stays for experiments on Haven-1 is a free sample to entice partners to support the full-fat Haven 2.
Despite being privately owned and operated, government contracts will be the backbone of the fledging commercial space station sector. Vast and its competitors are fighting for contracts from NASA’s Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Destinations program. The space agency has already awarded over $400 million to several projects, including Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef station and Sierra Space’s planned inflatable station.
