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PARIS: The race to replace the ageing International Space Station is heating up after US company Vast announced a mission to fly an astronaut to its planned Haven-1 station next year.
If the repeatedly delayed Haven-1 is launched into orbit as scheduled in early 2027, it will become history’s first commercial space station, beating out several competitors.
It would also mark a post-ISS era for humanity’s presence in space, as the West seeks independence from Russian space operations due to the war in Ukraine. After a quarter of a century being continuously inhabited, the ISS is scheduled to be deorbited in 2030.
On Tuesday, Vast became the first aerospace company to announce a crewed mission to its future station. This is an important milestone in a new era in crewed spaceflight that is less expensive — and less reliant on Russia, Vast CEO Max Haot said.
