Musk's SpaceX to launch the world’s first artificial gravity space station HAVEN-1 in 2025

Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX has won a contract to launch a commercial space station in August 2025. The space station named HAVEN-1 is being developed by a California-based firm named Vast. In an official release, the company revealed that the HAVEN-1 mission will be quickly followed by the manned spaceflight mission Vast-1 on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. Vast-1 will see a four-person crew dock with Haven-1 for up to 30 days in the low-Earth orbit (LEO). Interestingly, this stay is expected to be less harmful to the astronauts' health as the HAVEN-1 would be a habitat with artificial gravity. 

Announcing the Haven-1 and Vast-1 missions to low-Earth orbit. Launched by @SpaceX, Haven-1 is scheduled to be the world’s first commercial space station and will be visited by a crew of four aboard a Dragon spacecraft during Vast-1 → https://t.co/ToxFSiyQJj pic.twitter.com/YSPrM9Krtr

— VΛST (@vast) May 10, 2023

"Vast is thrilled to embark on this journey of launching the world's first commercial space station, Haven-1, and its first crew, Vast-1,” said Jed McCaleb, CEO of Vast. "A commercial rocket launching a commercial spacecraft with commercial astronauts to a commercial space station is the future of low-Earth orbit, and with Vast we’re taking another step toward making that future a reality,” said Tom Ochinero, Senior Vice President of Commercial Business at SpaceX. 

World's first artificial gravity space station

Vast says that its aim is to build the world's first commercial space station that mimics gravity like here on Earth. This is because astronauts who are exposed to zero gravity for relatively long periods of time are more prone to complications such as muscle atrophy, bone loss, and even brain damage. This forces them to limit their stay in space but an artificial gravity habitat could extend it. With HAVEN-1, Vast will conduct the artificial gravity experiment. This experiment involves spinning the space station module in orbit and the resulting centrifugal force will provide a pull, mimicking the gravity we experience on Earth. 

"Vast’s long-term goal is to develop a 100-meter-long multi-module spinning artificial gravity space station launched by SpaceX’s Starship transportation system," the company's official release read. Initially, the HAVEN-1 will act as an independent habitat and will eventually be scaled up by adding more modules. 

As for Vast-1, the crewed mission, four seats will go on sale around the time HAVEN-1 launches. Vast says the customers include "domestic and international space agencies and private individuals involved in science and philanthropic projects." Moreover, SpaceX will provide training for their spaceflight mission and detailed briefing on the Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon spacecraft, emergency protocols, spacesuits and more.