US firm keen to use Indian rockets for rides to its planned space station

US-based company Vast, planning to launch the world’s first commercial space station next year, has evinced interest in using Indian rockets to transport crew members to its orbital laboratory.

Vast CEO Max Hoat met the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) leadership team on the sidelines of the Global Space Exploration Conference here to discuss possible collaborations in the area of space technology.

The space-habitation company is in the race to build a space station that will be the successor to the International Space Station, which will be retired by 2031.

The California-based company plans to launch Haven-1, a single-module space station, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in May 2026.

“Right now, we are on track with our launch for May 2026,” Hoat said.

Vast plans to conduct a series of tests on the space station, before flying astronauts to the orbital laboratory by July next year. The first module of Haven-2, a much larger space station, is expected to be launched in 2028.

Hoat is excited about India’s Gaganyaan project, which plans to undertake a human spaceflight by early 2027, and keen to host science payloads on the space station.

“We are interested in flying payloads in science from India. The other interest we have is the possibility of using Gaganyaan rockets as a transport service for our space station,” he said.

India’s heavy-lift Launch Vehicle Mark-III is scheduled to take the Gaganyaan mission to a low-earth orbit by early 2027. The LVM-3 rocket has been used for commercial missions, such as the launching of OneWeb satellites in orbit.

India