Vast missed out on the first round of NASA awards for the next International Space Station, but that won’t prevent the company from going all-in on the second stage.
CEO Max Haot told CNBC’s Morgan Brennan this week that the company is betting on a “leapfrog strategy” and plans to successfully build and launch a space station to prove its capabilities.
“If we do all of that or are in the middle of doing that, I think it’s going to be impossible for NASA to ignore in terms of the hardware that we have,” he said.
Founded in 2023 after winning its first ISS contract, Vasto is preparing to launch its commercial space station, Haven-1, next year. The company on Thursday announced a $500 million funding round led by Valerion Space Ventures with participation from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund. Last month, the company was also selected for NASA’s sixth commercial astronaut mission to the ISS.
The funding round comes at a critical time for space investing ahead of SpaceX’s potentially huge initial public offering this year. This week, another startup, Sierra Space, closed a $550 million funding round, with both SpaceX and SpaceX rocket lab There was a launch.
Investors are pouring more money into space technology as President Donald Trump aims to return the United States to the moon for the first time in 50 years. At the same time, private companies are racing to build components to support a replacement for the ISS in preparation for its retirement in 2030.
Congress is also working to keep NASA operating the ISS until 2032.
After months of leadership uncertainty, NASA has finally secured Jared Isaacson as its administrator, a year after President Trump first nominated the civilian astronaut and Elon Musk ally.
Under his direction, the space agency has embarked on a major overhaul of the Artemis lunar program, which has been plagued by launch delays and safety concerns as the U.S. rushes to build a long-term presence on the moon.
“We haven’t forgotten the history books, but right now our approach of launching a mission every three-and-a-half years and making the giant leap from orbiting the moon to landing on the moon isn’t working,” Isaacman told Brennan at A16Z’s American Dynamism Summit this week.
Haot, which aims to build Vasto into a leading manufacturer of human habitats in space, is also betting on partnerships with Europe and Japan and a low-cost approach to achieving profitability.
“We will be prepared for any requests for replacements on the ISS,” he said. “We believe we will be successful, and ultimately there may be space for more companies to come in.”
