The team hoping to launch the world’s first commercial space station have shared what it will look like inside and it’s a world away from ISS.
Mock-up images of Haven-1, being built by the firm Vast, show rooms that wouldn’t be out of place in a luxury boutique hotel.
Sleek maple wood panelling and white padded walls feature heavily throughout, creating a minimalist environment that’s very different to what we’re used to seeing on the International Space Station (ISS).
Haven-1, set to be placed in low-Earth orbit by the SpaceX falcon rocket in 2026, also boasts a gym and private rooms with entertainment and online communication tech to contact those back on earth.
The ship’s four bedrooms feature a special duvet designed specifically to make weightless sleeping more comfortable.
‘This is not just any old duvet,’ Hillary Coe, Vast’s chief design and marketing officer told Wired.
‘It’s a duvet that inflates, creating this equal pressure up against you which allows for a beautiful, comfortable night’s rest.’
Lighting and temperature can be controlled to help with guests’ circadian rhythms – something astronauts say they struggle with in space, according to Coe.
There is also a common area in the middle of the station with a deployable table and a domed-shaped window viewing spot.
Although it might look like a fancy hotel, Vast’s CEO Max Hoat insists that’s not what the space station will be.
Haven-1 is designed to allow people to carry out scientific research he said, adding: ‘We are not building a luxury hotel in space, we are applying design to enhance crew cohesion, productivity, safety, communication to help sovereign astronauts and self-funded private individuals achieve their important orbital mission objectives.’
The start-up hopes to launch the station with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and visitors will be able to stay on the station for up to 30 days.
The firm has so far not revealed publicly how much the trips will cost.
Currently a seat onboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft up to the ISS can set you back around $55million, so it’s likely Haven-1 will only be open to the mega rich.
Coe acknowledged that at first the trips will come with a price tag most won’t afford, but the company’s hope is that one day ‘anyone can experience space’.
Veteran Nasa astronaut Andrew Feustel, who has spent more than 200 days in space on ISS, has worked with Vast to help design the interior.
‘I’ve flown three missions to space, and we are learning from those experiences and innovating to improve the way we can live and work on a space station,’ he said.
Nasa is planning to take ISS out of orbit in 2031 and hopes to crash it into the Pacific Ocean.
The space agency is looking at downing the station at Point Nemo, which is further from civilization in all directions than anywhere else in the world.
There are already hundreds of space craft in the so-called ‘space graveyard’..
ISS was launched in 1998 and has hosted more than 270 visitors.
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