The first commercial space station, Haven-1, is now undergoing assembly for launch

"The sprawling International Space Station is due to be decommissioned less than five years from now, and the US space agency has yet to formally publish rules and requirements for the follow-on stations being designed and developed by several different private companies. Although there are expected to be multiple bidders in "phase two" of NASA's commercial space station program, there are at present four main contenders: Voyager Technologies, Axiom Space, Blue Origin, and Vast Space."

"To get a sense of the overall landscape as the competition heats up, Ars recently interviewed Voyager chief executive Dylan Taylor about his company's plans for a private station, Starlab. Today we are publishing an interview with Max Haot, the chief executive of Vast. The company is furthest along in terms of development, choosing to build a smaller, interim space station, Haven-1, capable of short-duration stays. Eventually, NASA wants facilities capable of continuous habitation, but it is not clear whether that will be a requirement starting in 2030."

"Ars: You're slipping the launch of Haven-1 from the middle of this year to the first quarter of 2027. Why? Max Haot: This is obviously our first space station, and we're moving as safely and as fast as we can. That's the date right now that we are confident we will meet. We've been tracking that date, without slip, for quite a while. And that's still a year, p"

The International Space Station faces decommissioning in under five years while formal rules for commercial replacement stations remain unpublished. Multiple private companies are developing follow-on platforms, with four primary contenders: Voyager, Axiom, Blue Origin, and Vast. NASA is expected to select one or two companies later this year for larger development contracts. Vast is building an interim, smaller station called Haven-1 for short-duration stays and had targeted mid-2026 for launch but has postponed to the first quarter of 2027. NASA desires continuous-habitation facilities, though whether that will be a 2030 requirement remains unclear.

Read at Ars Technica