This facility could replace the International Space Station | Tech Reader

Vast Space has unveiled its proposed design for a facility that it says can replace the International Space Station (ISS), which will be decommissioned in 2031 after more than three decades years in near-Earth orbit.

According to a video (below) released by California-based Vast Space this week, Haven-2 would — just like the current ISS — consist of multiple modules and be built up over several years. But compared to the ISS, the new station would feature a more modern, clutter-free environment for astronauts to live and work.

The first module of Haven-2 could be fully operational by 2028, thereby ensuring an overlap of operations between the existing facility and the new one.

After that, Vast will send more advanced and efficient life support technologies via additional modules. The new station will even get a module almost identical to the ISS’s Cupola, the panoramic window from which astronauts are able to make Earth observations and take photos of our planet. It will also receive a robotic arm — like the Canadarm 2 at the ISS — to assist with maintenance and upgrade work to the exterior of the facility.

“Haven-2 is being designed with compatibility in mind, ensuring that international partners can integrate seamlessly into this next-generation platform,” said Andrew Feustel, a Vast advisor and veteran NASA astronaut with over 23 years of experience and three ISS missions under his belt. “This vision of global cooperation in space will create opportunities for scientific and technological advancements, benefiting new and current sovereign partners as well as industries around the world.”

Before that, Vast Space wants to prove its ability to build a functioning space station by launching the Haven-1 module in 2025. Haven-1 is a single-module facility that can host up to four astronauts at a time, and will be the first commercial space station to reach orbit if Vast Space is able to stick to its plan.

With NASA considering a number of proposals for the ISS replacement, a successful deployment of Haven-1 would surely boost Vast Space’s chances of being selected by the space agency to construct the larger and more complex Haven-2 facility for operations in near-Earth orbit.