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World's First Artificial Gravity Space Station to Be Born With Help From SpaceX

Humanity is no stranger to space stations. Ever since the Russian Salyut of the 1970s and up to the current International Space Station (ISS), we've grown accustomed to human beings spinning around our planet at distances of hundreds of miles.
Crew Dragon approaching Haven-1 space station 7 photos
Photo: Vast
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The space stations that were, the ones that are, and the many private ones to come, have several things in common, and one of the most important is this: they don't provide artificial gravity. But the upcoming Haven-1 might.

If you haven't heard anything about this space station, don't fret, you probably will. It is being planned by a space startup called Vast as the "world's first commercial space station" - take that with a grain of salt, though, as Vast is not the first company to promise this.

It's unclear when exactly the space station will be ready, but when completed it will measure 100 meters (328 feet) long and will comprise several modules. The station will have large window domes for viewing our planet and the stars beyond it, always-on Internet, and a "room to stretch and rest."

The most interesting part about it is some of these modules will be spinning, providing some sort of artificial gravity. Should another company called Orbital Assembly Corporation fail in its quest to make the world's first artificial gravity space station in its name, then the Haven-1 will surely claim that title.

At the end of last week Vast announced the first module of the station will launch in 2025. It will first be used as an independent space station of undisclosed size, but will eventually become part of the larger assembly.

It's unclear whether this module will be the one where the "world's first spinning artificial gravity experiment" will be conducted, but we do know it will be crewed almost as soon as it gets up there.

Haven-1 will launch on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and soon after it reaches its position in low-Earth orbit, a Crew Dragon will follow it up carrying with it a crew of four people. In Vast's own words, this "represents the first time in history that a commercial space station company has both a contracted launch for its space station and a visiting human spaceflight mission."

The crew will not necessarily be comprised of career astronauts, but could also include private individuals - we may even end up with a fully civilian crew going up there, kind of like we've had a couple of years ago with the Inspiration4 mission.

The trip up will not be free, although the details on how much it could cost are not known. We are told that whatever it may be, the cost will include training in the operation of the SpaceX and Vast pieces of hardware. The mission is scheduled to last for 30 days, and Vast has already opened the reservation page for the four seats on the Crew Dragon.

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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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