Vast Space's Haven Demo Launches to Test Commercial Space Station

Private sector versus public sector!

"It may look like an ordinary satellite, but the recently launched Haven Demo is a major step toward the first commercial space station. Built by Vast, the 1,100-lb (500-kg) uncrewed spacecraft will test core systems of the planned Haven-1 outpost. ...

If all goes well, Haven Demo will be followed by Haven-1, which will also launch using a Falcon 9 rocket. This will go into a 264-mile (425-km) orbit and the single module will be inflated and the solar array deployed by ground control. This will be followed by a 45-day commissioning period.

When Haven-1 is fully operational, a crew of four private astronauts will dock with the station using a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. This initial visit will last about 30 days before they return to Earth."

"2026: Haven-1

The world’s first commercial space station

Haven-1 is a state-of-the-art, human-centric space station, home to an innovation lab for private astronauts and government missions, demonstrating Vast’s operational and technical capabilities."

Vast's Haven Demo Launches to Test Commercial Space Station Tech

Vast Space: Building next-generation space stations

China’s Xi Ramps Up Control of Private Sector. ‘We Have No Choice but to Follow the Party.’

The dictator for life, Xi Jinping, tightens the screws! By doing so, the dictator risks the economic miracle of China. Will this be ultimately his downfall? You bet! Hubris, omnipotence, and delusions of grandeur have taken down many leaders in history!

"Xi Jinping, long distrustful of the private sector, is moving assertively to bring it to heel.

China’s most powerful leader in a generation wants even greater state control in the world’s second-largest economy, with private firms of all sizes expected to fall in line. The government is installing more Communist Party officials inside private firms, starving some of credit and demanding executives tailor their businesses to achieve state goals. ...
Mr. Xi has made his priorities especially clear in recent months. In September, the party issued new guidelines for private companies, reminding them to serve the state and vowing to use education and other tools to “continuously enhance the political consensus of private business people under the leadership of the party.” ..."

China’s Xi Ramps Up Control of Private Sector. ‘We Have No Choice but to Follow the Party.’ - WSJ

NASA selects four companies for moon material collection as it seeks to set precedent on private sector outer space mining

Amazing stuff! When will the first vacationer travel to the moon?

" ... There were four winners, each with a different ride out, which will seek to satisfy the conditions of NASA’s request, which is basically to collect a lunar regolith (essentially what we call “soil” on the moon) in an amount ranging from between 50 grams to 500 grams, with retrieval to be handled separately by NASA at a later date. The samples had to be collected before 2024 as part of the request ...
The agency received 22 proposals in total, between 16 and 17 companies. ..."

"... with bids ranging from $1 (yes) to $15,000 – peanuts in space terms. ..."

NASA selects four companies for moon material collection as it seeks to set precedent on private sector outer space mining | TechCrunch

The New SPACE RACE

Recommendable! Far too long governments dominated space exploration!  Had the private sector got involved in the space race decades earlier, humanity would have advanced much more! The private sector is cheaper, better, and much faster in developing innovations etc.!