COMPANY OVERVIEW
For over two decades, the International Space Station (ISS) has anchored human activity in orbit, but its aging systems, high costs, and government-driven cadence highlight the limits of legacy platforms. Payload integration is slow, astronaut time is dominated by maintenance, and commercial users face restricted access. With the ISS nearing retirement, there is a pressing need for new orbital infrastructure built for diverse users on commercial timelines. Vast is addressing this by developing modular, crew-rated space stations optimized for usability, maintainability, and persistent operations. The company is vertically integrated across propulsion, avionics, life support, crew systems, and mission operations, enabling tighter control of station design and delivery. Its roadmap begins with Haven-1, the first free-flying commercial crewed station, and extends to Haven-2, a larger platform enabling continuous presence in orbit. Beyond hardware, Vast distinguishes itself by making habitability and human performance central to long-duration mission success.
THESIS FIT
Space stations occupy a fundamentally different category of infrastructure than satellites or launch vehicles. They require fully integrated, human-rated systems from day one—life support, avionics, power, thermal, and docking all functioning in unison under stringent safety standards. This complexity has meant there has never been a true commercial market for stations; the ISS, while invaluable, was a government-led program dependent on subsidies and multilateral coordination. Now, with a real handoff of human spaceflight platforms from government monopoly to private operators, demand is broadening across sovereign astronauts, defense agencies, and commercial R&D. While a growing number of players have announced plans, few combine the technical maturity, vertical integration, scale and speed to deliver at market pace. We see Vast as one of the only credible companies positioned to anchor this emerging category of orbital infrastructure. (edited)
