The world's first commercial space station looks like a luxury hotel inside
Haven-1, the world’s first commercial space station is set to be placed in low-Earth orbit by the SpaceX Falcon rocket next year. First paying customers will be getting on board in 2026, and judging by the final designs just released of the station’s cozy interior, they'll feel right at home.
Guided by an iconic former Apple designer, the wood paneling, viewing window and cozy duvets aboard the Vast Haven-1 recreates space travel for style and comfort.
Helping to add softness to an interior previously more focused on function than style, Vast has used fine-grained maple wood—a contemporary favorite of home interior designers, chosen for its ability to add warmth and elegance to any space, and now space. Naturally, the maple wood slats are there for aesthetic appeal more than anything else, but Haven-1 has also developed other creature comforts, including a puffy space duvet that should help to encourage a good night's rest - not something easily achieved in space.
“This is not just any old duvet,” says Hillary Coe, Vast’s chief design and marketing officer. “It’s a duvet that inflates, creating this equal pressure up against you which allows for a beautiful and comfortable night’s rest.” According to Vast, the patent-pending sleep system is roughly the size of a queen bed, and should accommodate side and back-sleepers alike.
Eyes on the Stars
Vast is a Southern California startup founded by crypto billionaire Jed McCaleb, a programmer who, in 2010, transformed his Mt. Gox card trading site into the first major Bitcoin exchange. He is worth $2.9 billion according to Forbes’ Billionaires List. McCaleb founded Vast in 2021 to develop artificial gravity space stations.
“Earth has finite resources, but out in the solar system, there is an enormous untapped wealth, both in terms of energy and matter, that could support many ‘Earths,’” McCaleb told SpaceNews in 2022. “Likewise,” he added, “mankind needs a frontier. Every prosperous civilization has had one to push off into - we haven’t had one for some time. Without a frontier, the world becomes a zero-sum game, which is detrimental to the psyche of a civilization.”
Similar to a certain other space-obsessed billionaire, McCaleb too has his eyes on the stars. “In terms of the long-term future of humanity, we will need to live off of the Earth eventually,” he says.
Placed in low-Earth orbit by the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, Haven-1 will be more of a high-class capsule hotel than an ISS-style space station but it’s nevertheless a serious research platform designed to offer long-term missions in comfort, not just a microgravity Hilton with free Wi-Fi and a astral view.
“This is not like a carnival ride. People are not just going up to have a quick look at the Earth from space. We’re hoping that people are going up for an extended stay, where they will want to sit in our Haven-1 lab and help find a cure for cancer; you can grow human skin cells exponentially faster in microgravity. And those are the kind of research innovations that people are going to be having on the Haven-1” McCaleb emphasized.
It certainly won’t be as cheap as a carnival ride, but Hillary Coe wouldn’t disclose the flight price. That’s on application via the organization’s website. “We are talking to people who have the wherewithal, but no confirmed signatures as yet,” says Coe. “We’re confident we’ll have customer astronauts for our mission at the end of next year.”
Rich folks, then?
“Our long-term goal is for anybody to experience space,” Coe countered. “Of course, in the beginning, you will need to pay to come up and have that experience and there will be a price tag that perhaps most of us won’t be able to afford on day one, but, over time, as it gets less expensive to put Haven-1’s up in low Earth orbit then access will get wider and wider.”
Room with a view
Those booking one of the four places on these space trips - expected to average 10 days, will receive safety training but won’t be tasked with flying or controlling the journey. Instead, gawping has been prioritized. Haven-1 sports a large central window, allowing customers to view Earth. “The interior design [of the Haven-1] is warm and inviting,” says a statement from Vast.
Comfort is, therefore, key.
“You’ll be able to adjust things like temperature and lighting,” says Coe. “One of the really important pieces of feedback we’ve gotten from ISS astronauts is the proper regulation of circadian rhythms. We’ve taken painstaking care to fit the right kind of lighting so life on board feels as normal as possible.”
Coe added that “Space research and observation are more important to our daily lives than many people imagine. Tracking weather patterns and measuring climate change doesn’t just happen; much of that information comes from space satellites; it comes from astronauts making observations and being able to do the research in space that benefits us back on Earth.”
Home from home
And that vital work can be helped with creature comforts designed to keep passengers happy. Haven-1 was designed so “it can not only feel like you’re at home, but functional with it” says Coe.
Source: Wired
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