Aluminum is no longer the preferred choice for spacecraft interiors; current trends favor wood. This is the innovative approach adopted by Vast, the creators of Haven-1, the first commercial space station expected to enter low-Earth orbit with the aid of the SpaceX Falcon rocket next year. The first paying customers will embark on their journey in 2026, and based on the newly released designs of the station’s welcoming interior, they will likely feel quite at home.
To soften the interior, which has traditionally prioritized function over style, Vast has incorporated fine-grained maple wood, a modern favorite among home interior designers for its ability to add warmth and elegance to any environment, including the confined spaces of a space station.
The maple wood slats primarily serve an aesthetic purpose, but Haven-1 also includes other comforts, such as a unique space duvet intended to enhance the quality of sleep—often a challenge in the space environment.
Hillary Coe, Vast’s chief design and marketing officer, highlighted that this isn’t an ordinary duvet. It is an inflatable duvet that exerts equal pressure to provide a comfortable and restful sleeping experience.
According to Vast, the patented sleep system is approximately the size of a queen bed and is suitable for both side and back sleepers.
Coe mentioned that upon seeing the sleep system in the office, astronauts with close-cropped hair express joy, acknowledging they would have appreciated having such a system during their missions. Coe, who joined Vast after being the head of design at SpaceX for five years, has also held design roles at Starlink, Google, and Apple.
Vast is a Southern California startup founded by crypto billionaire Jed McCaleb. McCaleb, who initially created a major Bitcoin exchange from his Mt. Gox card trading site in 2010, is estimated to have a net worth of $2.9 billion according to Forbes. He established Vast in 2021 to pioneer artificial gravity space stations.
Among the early recruits were Kyle Dedmon, a former SpaceX vice president of construction; systems engineer Tom Hayford, with a background at Relativity Space and SpaceX; Molly McCormick, previously a human factors engineer at SpaceX; and Colin Smith, a former propulsion engineer at SpaceX.
McCaleb expressed his vision to SpaceNews in 2022, noting that while Earth’s resources are limited, there is a vast, untapped wealth of energy and matter within the solar system capable of sustaining multiple “Earths.”
