{"id":22302,"date":"2025-03-21T17:33:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T15:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/ripple-co-founder-unveils-ambitious-space-station-plan\/"},"modified":"2025-03-21T17:33:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T15:33:14","slug":"ripple-co-founder-unveils-ambitious-space-station-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/ripple-co-founder-unveils-ambitious-space-station-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Ripple Co-founder Unveils Ambitious Space Station Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-keypoints article_keypoints\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jed McCaleb and his company Vast plan to launch a commercial space station.<\/li>\n<li>Successful execution could strengthen Vast&#8217;s bid for the ISS replacement contract, while failure might jeopardize the firm&#8217;s future.<\/li>\n<li>The company aims to create &#8220;artificial gravity&#8221; and launch an enhanced Haven-2 station in the future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jed McCaleb, co-founder of Mt.Gox and Ripple, intends to launch the commercial space station Haven-1 into orbit in May 2026, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/features\/2025-03-20\/crypto-windfall-is-funding-vast-s-space-station-ambitions\">Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The project is being executed by his company, Vast, with the primary goal of developing technologies for long-term human habitation in space.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Snimok-ekrana-2025-03-21-170601.webp\" alt=\"Snimok-ekrana-2025-03-21-170601\" class=\"wp-image-254656\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo of Jed McCaleb. Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vastspace.com\/team\">Vast<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Competing for a NASA Contract<\/h2>\n<p>If McCaleb&#8217;s startup succeeds, it will have a better chance of securing a contract from <span data-descr=\"National Aeronautics and Space Administration\" class=\"old_tooltip\">NASA<\/span> to replace the International Space Station (ISS). The tenders are expected to be concluded by mid-2026.<\/p>\n<p>Vast is competing with companies such as Axiom Space, Voyager Space Holdings, Lockheed Martin, and Blue Origin.<\/p>\n<p>Should Vast fail or lose the contract to a competitor, the entrepreneur could lose $1 billion, putting the commercial future of his company in doubt.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;Not many people can allocate as many resources, time, and willingness to take risks as I can,&#8221; McCaleb stated.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>According to longtime friend and former business partner Sam Yagan, McCaleb is known as a &#8220;conscious risk-taker&#8221; with hyper-rational tendencies.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;He may be a bit eccentric in his willingness to take what we would consider a big risk,&#8221; he noted.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Following Musk&#8217;s Path<\/h2>\n<p>McCaleb&#8217;s ambition to settle humans on other planets aligns with the ideas of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.<\/p>\n<p>The Haven-1 space station will be built using Musk&#8217;s technologies, such as docking adapters and the Starlink internet communication system.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"584\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Snimok-ekrana-2025-03-21-170726-1024x584.png\" alt=\"Snimok-ekrana-2025-03-21-170726\" class=\"wp-image-254657\" srcset=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Snimok-ekrana-2025-03-21-170726-1024x584.png 1024w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Snimok-ekrana-2025-03-21-170726-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Snimok-ekrana-2025-03-21-170726-768x438.png 768w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Snimok-ekrana-2025-03-21-170726.png 1217w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vastspace.com\/haven-1\">Vast<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Vast has also booked SpaceX flights to send its equipment into orbit and transport crew to the station, with the firm agreeing to carry astronauts for McCaleb&#8217;s company pending NASA approval.<\/p>\n<p>Vast&#8217;s close ties with SpaceX are partly due to hiring key personnel who previously worked there, including Max Haot, who serves as CEO and president of Vast.<\/p>\n<p>McCaleb and Haot have expressed their willingness to embark on a flight themselves.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Creating &#8220;Artificial Gravity&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>The company&#8217;s long-term plans also include creating &#8220;artificial gravity&#8221; to improve living conditions in space.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VSt6Y6wC-YM?si=1MXDLauuzg_LcqW0\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The ISS uses technology to recycle waste into drinking water and carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen. This system will not be used in Haven-1 due to the short-term stay of the crew.<\/p>\n<p>However, Vast plans to incorporate ISS technology into the future Haven-2 model by 2028, which is designed for longer space habitation.<\/p>\n<p>McCaleb gained fame for his developments in the crypto industry. He created the eDonkey file-sharing network, founded the Mt.Gox exchange, and later Ripple and Stellar.<\/p>\n<p>He remains a key figure in the private space race alongside Jeff Bezos&#8217;s Blue Origin and SpaceX.<\/p>\n<p>Back in December 2024, the Spacecoin project team <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/spacecoin-launches-first-satellite-for-blockchain-network-in-space\">announced<\/a> the launch of a satellite to ensure the security of blockchain protocols in space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jed McCaleb and his company Vast plan to launch a commercial space station. Successful execution could strengthen Vast&#8217;s bid for the ISS replacement contract, while failure might jeopardize the firm&#8217;s future. The company aims to create &#8220;artificial gravity&#8221; and launch an enhanced Haven-2 station in the future. Jed McCaleb, co-founder of Mt.Gox and Ripple, intends [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"","news_style_id":"","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1217,1783,1150,112,1170],"class_list":["post-22302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-elon-musk","tag-jed-mccaleb","tag-news-plus","tag-ripple","tag-space"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"51","promo_type":"","layout_type":"","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}