Vast (company)

Vast (also styled Vast Space) is a privately held American aerospace company headquartered in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 2021 by entrepreneur Jed McCaleb with the goal of developing artificial gravity space stations to "expand humanity beyond the solar system".[3]

Vast Space
TypePrivate
Industry
Founded2021 in El Segundo, California, U.S.
FounderJed McCaleb[1]
Headquarters
Long Beach, California[1]
,
United States
Key people
OwnerJed McCaleb
Number of employees
120+[2] (February 2023)
Websitevastspace.com

History

Founded in 2021, Vast was "officially" launched in September 2022 with the mission to develop the world's first artificial-gravity space stations.[4] This was followed up by an announcement in January 2023 to relocate its corporate headquarters from El Segundo, California to a newly-built 115,000 square-foot facility in Long Beach.[5] The new facility, located in the city's Globemaster Corridor Specific Plan, also plans to house the company's manufacturing operations.[6]

Shortly thereafter, in February 2023, Vast announced its acquisition of Hawthorne-based space startup Launcher, with founder & CEO Max Haot becoming president of Vast.[7][8] As a result of the acquisition, Vast gained its assets, products, and employees.[2] Additionally, former Launcher operations such as the development of its' E-2 engine and Orbiter payload host would continue its development within Vast, with plans to start deploying them in the summer of 2023.[9][10]

In May 2023, Vast announced that it had teamed up with Elon Musk's SpaceX to launch its first single-module space station called Haven-1 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than August 2025.[11] Plans were also unveiled for a crewed flight up to Haven-1, called Vast-1, to be launched shortly after placing the station in orbit.[12] Vast plans to sell 4 seats aboard the spacecraft where they will then receive training by SpaceX in preparation for the Vast-1 mission.[13]

Hardware

Rocket engines

Following the acquisition of Launcher, the development of its E-2 rocket engine was continued within Vast.[14] The E-2 engine is a 3D printed staged combustion liquid rocket engine.[15] Originally meant to be used for Launcher's Light launch vehicle, the E-2 rocket engine is now planned to be used alongside the Orbiter space tug and payload host.[16]

Orbiter

The Orbiter is an orbital transfer vehicle capable of approaching/departing spacecraft and carrying customer payload that uses ethane and nitrous as propellants for use as the third stage of any launch vehicle.[17] The Orbiter was initially planned for use as the third stage of Launcher's Light rocket, but plans for such a rocket was discontinued following Vast's acquisition of Launcher.[18] However, further development of the Orbiter was continued within Vast as a part of Launcher's acquisition.[19] Additionally, former Launcher missions which involved Orbiter, such as the SN3 and SN4 missions, were also undertaken by Vast.[20] Vast plans to fly SN3 in summer 2023 with SN4 planned for October 2023.[20] Beyond the SN3 and SN4 missions, Vast plans to use the Orbiter space tug to "help test key systems" for its station design that will "eventually make its way into an actual habitable space station".[10] Vast is also building prototypes for key subsystems on Haven-1, such as avionics and propulsion, based around Orbiter space tugs.[7]

Haven-1
Main article: Haven-1
A rendering of the Haven-1 module in space.

Haven-1 is a planned space station in low Earth orbit that is currently being developed by Vast.[21] The space station, similar to the International Space Station (ISS), is planned to be a zero gravity station, with it "eventually" expanding to be an artificial gravity station.[22] Haven-1 is planned to initially act as an independent crewed space station, with it later being connected to a "larger" space station that is also currently in development by Vast.[23] The station is planned to be brought to space no earlier than August 2025 aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.[11] Shortly thereafter, Vast then plans to have a crew of four launch aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft to station for thirty days upon coming back to Earth.[24]

Facilities

Originally based in El Segundo, Vast relocated its' corporate headquarters to a newly-built, 115,000-square-foot facility in Long Beach, California.[25] The facility hosts much of Vast's manufacturing operations.[7]

References
  1. "Vast Space Becomes the Newest Member of "Space Beach"". BusinessWire. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  2. Richardson, Brandon (23 February 2023). "Vast Space triples workforce through acquisition to help develop artificial gravity space station". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  3. Warner, Debra (15 September 2022). "Vast Space to develop artificial-gravity space station". SpaceNews. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  4. Alaieva, Lilia (19 September 2022). "Vast Space to create a station with artificial gravity". The Universe Space Tech. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  5. Mark R. Madler (16 January 2023). "Vast Relocates Its Headquarters to 'Space Beach'". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  6. Sami, Isabel. "Space tech company Vast moves headquarters and manufacturing to Long Beach". The Business Journals. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  7. Foust, Jeff (21 February 2023). "Vast acquires Launcher to support space station development". SpaceNews. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  8. Sheetz, Michael (21 February 2023). "Space station company Vast, founded by billionare Jed McCaleb, acquires startup Launcher". CNBC. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  9. Reim, Garrett (21 February 2023). "Launcher Dumps Small Launch Vehicle Plans, Bought By Vast Space | Aviation Week Network". aviationweek.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  10. Loeffler, John (23 February 2023). "Artificial gravity habitats now have access to satellite 'space tug'". Interesting Engineering. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  11. Davenport, Christian (10 May 2023). "A start-up teams with SpaceX to be first to orbit a commercial space station". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  12. Wall, Mike (10 May 2023). "Vast Space to launch 1st private station on SpaceX rocket in 2025". Space.com. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  13. Wattles, Jackie (10 May 2023). "SpaceX and startup Vast hope to put the world's first private space station in orbit". CNN. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  14. Listek, Vanesa (23 February 2023). "A Big Move for Space 3D Printing: Vast Acquires Launcher". 3DPrint.com. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  15. "MILESTONE: Launcher's 3D-Printed E-2 Rocket Engine Achieves Full Thrust at NASA Stennis Space Center". Launcher Space. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  16. Alamalhodaei, Aria (21 February 2023). "Vast acquires Launcher in quest to build artificial gravity space stations". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  17. Foust, Jeff (7 February 2022). "Launcher buys additional SpaceX rideshare missions". SpaceNews. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  18. Tyrer-Jones, Alex (22 March 2023). "3D Printed Rocket Firm Launcher Acquired by Vast". 3D Printing Industry. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  19. Albert, Zac (21 February 2023). "Vast Acquires Launcher to Accelerate Space Station Development". The Launch Pad Network. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  20. Berger, Eric (28 February 2023). "Meet the space who is interested in something other than rockets". Ars Technica. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  21. Landers, Rob (10 May 2023). "VAST Space announces 1st commerical space station - what we know". Florida Today. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  22. Vast Space (10 May 2023). "Vast Announces the Haven-1 and Vast-1 Missions". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  23. Roulette, Joey (11 May 2023). "Space startup partners with SpaceX to launch commercial space station". Reuters. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  24. Tribou, Richard (12 May 2023). "SpaceX, startup Vast aim to put 1st commercial space station in orbit". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  25. Richardson, Brandon (10 January 2023). "Vast Space joins Long Beach's booming aerospace economy". Long Beach Business Journal. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
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