California company Vast will fly astronauts to the ISS in 2027

NASA selected Long Beach-based Vast to operate a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, with launch planned no earlier than summer 2027. The mission is part of a broader effort to transition low Earth orbit operations to commercial companies ahead of the ISS retirement.

NASA has selected Long Beach–based company Vast to operate a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, with a launch planned no earlier than summer 2027. The move is part of NASA's wider effort to enable commercial operations in low Earth orbit as the International Space Station approaches planned decommissioning in 2030. Vast says the mission will help the company advance toward building and operating private stations in orbit. The company previously tested key technologies with a pathfinder spacecraft, Haven Demo, which launched to low Earth orbit last November. Key facts: - NASA announced Vast will conduct the sixth private astronaut flight to the ISS, targeted no earlier than summer 2027. - Vast will submit names of four proposed crewmembers to NASA and the ISS partners for review and approval. - Four private astronaut missions to date have been operated by Axiom Space; Axiom is also slated to operate the fifth private mission, planned no earlier than January 2027. - Vast plans a pathfinder station called Haven-1 in 2027 and aims to develop a multi-module Haven-2 in subsequent years; Haven Demo served as an initial technology demonstration. - Over the past five years, NASA has awarded more than $500 million to support development of commercial outposts in low Earth orbit. - Other commercial station efforts include Orbital Reef (Blue Origin and Sierra Space) and Starlab (a NanoRacks and Voyager Space consortium); if private stations do not materialize, Tiangong may be the only LEO outpost when the ISS is retired. Summary: The selection of Vast advances NASA's plan to transition low Earth orbit activities to commercial providers and supports the development of private space stations. Both Vast and Axiom view private astronaut missions as steps toward operating independent LEO stations. Next formal steps include Vast submitting four proposed crewmembers for partner review, with the targeted flight timeline set for no earlier than summer 2027.