Why shutting down the International Space Station could make Musk a fortune
In a series of social media posts last month, White House advisor and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk called for deorbiting the International Space Station (ISS) as soon as 2027. “The decision is up to the President, but my recommendation is as soon as possible,” Musk wrote on X. Although NASA intends to operate the ISS through 2030, Musk argued the station “has served its purpose” and should be supplanted by his dream of colonizing Mars.
The move could be a financial windfall for SpaceX long before anyone sets foot on Mars.
Deorbiting the ISS, which accounts for approximately 17% of NASA’s annual budget, would pave the way for private companies to launch commercial space stations. Servicing commercial space stations is a key part of SpaceX's growth strategy.
SpaceX is partnering in this effort with California startup Vast Space, founded in 2021 by cryptocurrency billionaire Jed McCaleb. Vast Space, which is developing commercial space stations, has publicly embraced Musk and his vision for space exploration. Vast Space CEO Max Haot has said he is "aligned with the Mars mission… not just making money for the sake of it, but helping humanity expand beyond Earth." Vast Space plans to launch its first commercial space station, Haven-1, with SpaceX rockets as early as this year.
McCaleb has openly acknowledged he lacks relevant experience in the space industry. “I don’t fault people for being skeptical," he told TechCrunch in May 2023. “I’ve clearly never done anything in aerospace before, so it is a leap.” McCaleb founded Vast Space with fortunes he amassed from launching crypto companies, including Ripple, Stellar, and Mt. Gox, which collapsed in 2014 after hackers stole $460 million in bitcoin from the firm.
The Vast Space leadership team is staffed with numerous former SpaceX employees, including Krystle Caponio, former general counsel for SpaceX; Alex Hudson, who previously led SpaceX’s avionics program; Garrett Reisman, former SpaceX director of space operations; Hans Koenigsmann, former SpaceX vice president of flight and reliability; Will Heltsley, former SpaceX vice president of propulsion; and Yang Li, former team lead on SpaceX’s Dragon craft.
SpaceX considers its partnership with Vast Space a vital source of revenue. “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,” then-SpaceX SVP of commercial business Tom Ochinero said in 2023.
Vast Space has yet to secure a significant government contract and currently lacks a presence in low Earth orbit. But in January, Caponio landed a seat on the Federal Aviation Administration’s influential Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC). The panel advises the FAA administrator on the multibillion-dollar commercial space travel industry.
Vast Space is serving on COMSTAC alongside more prominent companies like Boeing and Northrop Grumman, both of which have received federal funds to develop commercial space stations. Blue Origin, the SpaceX rival founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, lost its COMSTAC seat after Vast Space joined the panel.
Musk has often criticized the FAA for interfering with his rocket launches. The FAA proposed fining SpaceX last year for “allegedly failing to follow its license requirements” during a pair of 2023 launches. Musk, through DOGE, has also installed four SpaceX engineers at the FAA as “senior advisors,” according to Wired.
How SpaceX and Vast Space are planning to replace ISS
Vast Space has promoted its Haven-2 space station as a commercial replacement for the ISS. Notably, it plans to rely exclusively on SpaceX rockets to transport its Haven-2 modules into orbit. Vast Space says Haven-2 will be ready for launch in 2028 should the ISS cease operations before 2030. Musk is now working to shutter the ISS as soon as possible.
Vast Space hopes that a successful Haven-1 mission, a “100-meter-long, multi-module, spinning, artificial gravity space station,” will convince NASA to commit to Haven-2 as a replacement for the ISS. (The company will also use Starlink to maintain connectivity during its Haven-1 launch.) Haot, Vast Space’s CEO, recently said the race to replace the ISS is the “most important contract in the space station market,” adding that a winning bid from NASA is essential for the survival of his firm. “If we don’t win, we don’t think we can even exist,” Haot said last month.
Vast Space has also signed deals with SpaceX to send astronauts to the ISS for research and training if it can win a contract from NASA.
We, the human race, haven’t quite perfected living together here on earth without destroying each other. Perhaps Musk and these other billionaires should focus their vast resources closer to home before fighting each other over space.
Enough with Musk and his pathetic Mars vanity project. Enough with tax payer money waylaid to feed this lunatic's dystopian, fantasy.
The USA may be a lost cause, however, other countries would be wise to abandon contracting Starlink and find other alternatives. Musk will weaponize it as he did In Ukraine. Ditto any project or company associated with this drug addled over bloated ego run amok.