Free-Flying Stations, with Jed McCaleb & Max Haot (Vast)
Valley of Depth
In-House Development of Components for the Program
Exploring the team's strategy of designing and constructing components internally to meet project deadlines and ensure safety, with a focus on outsourcing only certain elements like propulsion and solar panels for efficiency.
This week on Pathfinder, we're joined by Jed McCaleb, Founder, and Max Haot, CEO, the leaders behind Vast, a company pioneering the development of commercial space stations. Jed, a seasoned software entrepreneur, and Max, a veteran in space and internet ventures, bring their unique expertise to the ambitious goal of advancing human habitation in space.
Our conversation covers the critical aspects of creating economically viable space stations, the strategic role of life support systems, and the significance of reducing transportation costs. We also explore:
- Space station economics, pros/cons of competition
- Military opportunities and sensitivities in space station use
- Integration of Launcher post-acquisition
- Challenges and excitement of Haven One's launch
- Vast’s product roadmap
And much more…
• Chapters •
00:00 Intro
00:53 Jed's career path and creating Vast
02:57 Balancing aspirations and making money
04:57 Max's history building business and how he came to Vast
08:49 Max's primary objective at Vast
11:22 Jed's experience building a hardware company
12:31 Market opportunity for a free flying space station
15:20 Haven 1
19:17 Building components in house
21:07 Materials use and construction safety
23:03 Vast's approach vs competitors
29:45 Importance of being first in the market
31:41 Is the market large enough to sustain multiple station providers?
33:25 Common misconceptions of space station investment
38:02 Vast x SpaceX partnership
40:55 Product roadmap
43:22 Coinciding with Starship timelines
45:06 Will Starship be converted into a space station?
46:10 Fundraising
47:09 Economics around Haven 1
51:37 Military applications
53:30 Utilization after acquisition
54:13 What excites you and keeps you up at night?
• Show notes •
Max’s socials — https://twitter.com/maxhaot
Jed’s socials — https://twitter.com/JedMcCaleb
Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam
Vast’s website — https://www.vastspace.com/
Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace
Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace
Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes
• About us •
Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 19,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world.
Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers. Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing five media properties across multiple platforms:
1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern
2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com)
3) Polaris, our weekly policy briefing, publishes weekly on Tuesdays
4) Payload Research, our weekly research and analysis piece, comes out on Wednesdays
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