US-based space company Vast has formally proposed a partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for collaboration on India’s upcoming Bharat Antariksh Station, offering access to its own commercial space station, Haven-1, which is scheduled for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in May 2026. Vast’s CEO, Max Haot, recently held discussions with ISRO officials, suggesting a mutually beneficial arrangement where Indian scientists and engineers could be hosted on Haven-1, while Vast could potentially gain access to India’s future space station facilities.

Haven-1 is designed as a single-module, commercial space station with a habitable volume of 45 cubic meters, capable of supporting up to four crew members for missions averaging two weeks. The station will feature four crew quarters, science module lockers, and a communal area, and is intended as a precursor to the larger Haven-2 station, which Vast hopes will serve as a successor to the International Space Station (ISS) after its planned retirement in 2031. Haven-2 is expected to be operational by 2028 and fully completed by 2032, offering significantly greater capacity and aiming to serve both government and commercial users.

The ISS, currently a collaborative project involving the US, Russia, Canada, Japan, and the European Space Agency, is nearing its decommissioning, while China’s Tiangong station has already established a permanent human presence in orbit since 2021. In this context, Vast sees a unique opportunity for US-India collaboration, as the two countries are politically aligned and, apart from Russia and China, are the only nations with independent human spaceflight capabilities.

India’s own space station initiative, the Bharat Antariksh Station, is slated to see its first module launched in 2028, with completion targeted for 2035. The collaboration with Vast could provide ISRO with valuable expertise in space station operations and accelerate India’s ambitions in crewed spaceflight, especially as ISRO prepares for its Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission in 2027. Vast has also expressed interest in using Indian rockets, such as those developed for Gaganyaan, to transport crew to its station, provided they meet safety and reliability standards.

Vast’s partnership with NASA, under a five-year, unfunded Space Act Agreement, aims to mature the company’s space station concepts and facilitate eventual implementation. The company is on track to complete the primary structure of Haven-1 by July 2025, with crewed missions expected to begin shortly after its launch in 2026. This potential US-India partnership could mark a significant step in the post-ISS era, ensuring continued international collaboration and human presence in low Earth orbit.

Agencies