ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and Vast CEO Max Haot signed a Memorandum of Understanding for future Vast space stations during Space Day at the Berlin International Airshow (ILA) on June 6, 2024.

Vast is developing commercial artificial gravity space stations to support both crew and payloads, offering microgravity and lunar artificial gravity environments. Their Haven-1 single module station is set to launch to low Earth orbit no earlier than August 2025.

Currently, astronauts float in a 'weightless' environment aboard the International Space Station, experiencing constant freefall while orbiting Earth. While this environment is essential for scientific research, it also has significant health downsides for astronauts on long-duration missions, including loss of bone and muscle mass, back pain, and headaches due to fluid shifts towards the head.

Artificial gravity on a space station could mitigate these problems. Vast aims to achieve artificial gravity through centrifugal forces generated by a large spinning structure in space, providing a pull that mimics Earth's gravity.

The cooperation with Vast will give ESA and its Member States access to space for research and science in low Earth orbit, benefiting our planet as we transition from the International Space Station, set to resume operations in 2030.

The collaboration between Vast and ESA will enable ESA to use Vast space stations for astronaut missions and research, help European industries supply parts and certify docking, and involve European LEO cargo and crew transport services.

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