PANews reported on March 21 that Jed McCaleb, the serial entrepreneur who founded the crypto exchange Mt. Gox and co-founded Ripple, shared new details about his space company Vast, hoping it can help humanity expand into a multi-planetary species. In an interview with Bloomberg on March 20, McCaleb confirmed that Vast is aiming to launch the Haven-1 (a commercial space station still under construction) into orbit before May 2026. If McCaleb's startup succeeds, it will have a better chance of winning a lucrative contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to replace the International Space Station. The contract is expected to be awarded in mid-2026. If Vast fails or loses the NASA contract to competitors, McCaleb's net worth could decrease by $1 billion, and the commercial prospects of his space company will be questioned. McCaleb said, "Not many people are willing to put in as much resources, time, and risk tolerance as I am."
Vast is using components developed by SpaceX to build its spacecraft, such as the docking adapter that will connect SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft to Vast's space station, as well as the space internet system Starlink to provide WiFi on the space station. McCaleb's company has also booked flights with SpaceX to transport its hardware into orbit and crew to its space station, and SpaceX has agreed to carry astronauts for Vast as long as NASA approves. Vast is competing with companies like Axiom Space, Voyager Space Holdings, Lockheed Martin, and Blue Origin, the company founded by Jeff Bezos, to win NASA's next major contract.
