SpaceX to launch first commercial space station by mid-2025

WASHINGTON: SpaceX confirmed Wednesday it signed a contract to launch the world's first commercial space station.

The company will also perform manned space flights shortly after launching the station into orbit no later than August 2025, United Press International (UPI) quoted SpaceX as saying in a statement.

The Haven-1 space station is being built by Vast, a private aerospace company based in Long Beach, California.

Its "mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space -- a future in which the human population and our resources expand far beyond our current imagination," it said.

Vast is solely funded by its billionaire founder and CEO Jed McCaleb.

SpaceX will use its Falcon 9 rocket to carry the Haven-1 station into orbit.

Manned crews will then use the company's Dragon reusable spacecraft to get to the space station, docking for up to 30 days while in orbit.

Vast plans for the initial module to become part of a larger 100-metre-long multi-module spinning space station with artificial gravity.

SpaceX confirmed it also will provide crew training, as well as spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises. SpaceX also will conduct mission simulations, as part of the agreement with 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," SpaceX Senior Vice President of Commercial Business Tom Ochinero said in a statement.

Crew selection is underway, the company said Wednesday, and will be announced at a future date.

-- BERNAMA