NASA In 2030, the aging International Space Station sinks into the ocean.
The space agency is banking on commercial companies to develop and implement future habits in orbit around Earth. One of them will be Haven-1, built by space technology company Vast. The Southern California company has released the final designs for its sleek-looking Haven-1 capsule. SpaceX plans to launch its mission as early as 2025 on a Falcon 9 rocket.
While the program has a reliable rocket, a reliable SpaceX craft to take residents there, and a billionaire founder, the timeline to build a capsule with life support systems in the second half of 2025 is certainly ambitious. Mashable reached out to the company for more information on plans and progress for Haven-1.
A NASA scientist saw the first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills.
Retired NASA astronaut Andrew J. Hiring Feustel has a wide range of benefits.
“I've been on three trips to space, learning from those experiences and innovating to improve the way we live and work on the space station,” Feustel said in a statement. On Earth and beyond, every detail is designed with the astronaut experience at the heart of our mission.”
Mashable Speed of Light
The video and images below show the concepts of this design. In stark contrast to the International Space Station – a cluttered space lab dominated by walls, overgrown with equipment and wiring – Haven-1 is minimal and clean. A lot of equipment is stored behind spartan wall panels. The capsule features “fire-resistant maple wood veneer slats that bring natural warmth to a traditionally sterile, demand-driven interior,” the company explained.
Interior structure of the Haven-1 capsule.
Credit: Broad
Concept of the common area on Haven-1, with a large window overlooking Earth.
Credit: Broad
An important factor contributing to the feasibility of a Haven-1 launch is that it is a small, compact capsule (for reference, see the structure above.) In contrast, the International Space Station – which countries began building in the late 1980s – is “the largest man-made object ever to orbit Earth,” NASA explains. . 42 aircraft were required to deliver the major parts of the station.
It is “larger than a six-bedroom house, with six bedrooms, two bathrooms, a gym and a 360-degree view bay window,” according to the space agency.
Named components of the sprawling International Space Station.
Credit: NASA
The vast solar system has ambitions beyond its initial capsule. If Haven-1 is operational and it can safely house a crew of 4, the company plans to build a larger module in 2028 and launch later. Eventually, in the 2030s, “”artificial gravitation stations” will be able to contain groups of 8. These long-term projects, of course, require deep client financial commitments, such as a particular National Space Agency needing a place to conduct science in low Earth orbit.
Meanwhile, NASA's ambitions for the coming decades are the moon and beyond. The agency plans to build a permanent lunar reserve where harvested water is stored in cold craters, and a fuel depot for efforts on Mars or other resource-rich asteroids.
