Vast Space, the ambitious commercial space station developer founded by former SpaceX engineer Jed McCaleb, is pressing forward with its “leapfrog strategy” despite not securing a spot in NASA’s first round of commercial space station awards announced in late 2025.
CEO Max Haot told CNBC’s Morgan Brennan this week that the company is fully committed to launching its Haven-1 station in 2027, building a track record of reliable human-rated habitats, and proving its capabilities so NASA cannot ignore it when the agency selects partners to replace or augment the International Space Station (ISS) after its planned retirement around 2030.
“If we do all of that, or are on the way to do that, I think it will be impossible to ignore for NASA in terms of the hardware that we have,” Haot said during the interview.
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Vast raised $500 million in a new funding round led by Balerion Space Ventures, with participation from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and other strategic investors. The capital will support Haven-1’s development, including critical subsystems, crew module fabrication, and launch preparations on a Falcon 9 rocket. The company also announced last month that it was selected for NASA’s sixth private astronaut mission to the ISS, providing both revenue and operational experience.
The funding comes at a pivotal moment for the commercial space sector. SpaceX is widely expected to pursue a mega initial public offering (IPO) in 2026 or 2027, potentially valuing the company at well over $200 billion. Rocket Lab (RKLB) conducted multiple successful launches this week, while Sierra Space closed a $550 million round to advance its Dream Chaser spaceplane and Orbital Reef station project.
Investor appetite remains strong, fueled by President Donald Trump’s renewed emphasis on returning humans to the moon under the Artemis program and the need for a viable ISS successor. NASA’s recent selection process awarded contracts to Blue Origin (Orbital Reef) and Voyager Space (Starlab), among others, but excluded Vast. The agency has since signaled openness to multiple providers, with Congress extending ISS operations potentially to 2032 to bridge the transition.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman — confirmed in late 2025 after a year-long nomination delay — has overseen a major overhaul of Artemis, including accelerated timelines and a push for more commercial partnerships. Isaacman told Brennan at the a16z American Dynamism summit that the current “giant leaps” approach, launching missions every three to four years, is unsustainable and must evolve toward more frequent, iterative progress.
Vast’s strategy centers on speed, cost efficiency, and iterative development. Haven-1 is designed as a single-launch, single-module station capable of hosting four crew members for up to 30 days. It will serve as a testbed for larger modular habitats that Vast plans to deploy in the 2030s. Haot emphasized partnerships with Europe (ESA) and Japan (JAXA) to secure international customers and technology, as well as a low-cost philosophy that avoids the massive capital burn of some competitors.
“We will be ready for the call to replace the ISS,” Haot said. “I believe we will be successful and maybe there’ll eventually be space for many more.”
He highlighted profitability as a core goal, noting Vast aims to achieve positive cash flow through private astronaut missions, research payloads, tourism, and sovereign station services before NASA’s next major award cycle.
The company’s approach contrasts with larger players like Blue Origin and Voyager Space, which have secured early NASA funding but face longer development timelines. Vast is betting that demonstrated hardware in orbit will carry more weight than paper proposals when NASA selects long-term partners for LEO commercialization. Haven-1’s 2027 launch target — ambitious but backed by the new funding — positions Vast as a potential dark horse in the race to fill the post-ISS void.
The broader commercial space landscape is heating up. While Trump’s administration has prioritized lunar return and private-sector involvement in Artemis, NASA under Isaacman is shifting toward more frequent, commercially enabled missions. Congress’s extension of ISS operations to 2032 provides breathing room, but experts note the need for a robust U.S.-led commercial LEO ecosystem remains urgent.
Thus, Vast’s $500 million round, one of the largest for a pure-play space station developer, reflects investor confidence in the post-ISS opportunity. With SpaceX’s Starship progress, Rocket Lab’s Neutron development, and Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser nearing operational status, the sector is entering a high-stakes phase of hardware demonstration and customer acquisition.
Haot’s vision is to prove the technology works, build trust with NASA and international partners, and secure a leading role in the next era of human spaceflight. If Vast delivers Haven-1 on schedule and demonstrates reliable operations, it could force NASA to reconsider its initial selections — potentially creating “space for many more” as Haot envisions.