Meet the Eccentric Visionary Behind the Next Space Station! 🚀💰

Ah, behold the audacious dreamer, the serial entrepreneur who once danced with the digital currency devil at Mt. Gox and now flirts with the stars! Jed McCaleb, the mastermind behind Ripple, has unveiled his grandiose vision for a space station company named Vast. His ambition? To catapult humanity into a multi-planetary existence. Because, why not? 🌌

In a recent tête-à-tête with Bloomberg on March 20, our intrepid space pioneer confirmed that Vast is on a trajectory to launch Haven-1 — a commercial space station still in the throes of construction — into the great beyond by May 2026. Fingers crossed, folks! 🤞

Should McCaleb’s venture soar to success, it could snag a golden ticket from NASA to replace the aging International Space Station. Contracts are expected to be doled out in mid-2026, so let’s hope he’s got his lucky socks on! 🧦✨

But, oh dear reader, should Vast stumble or lose the NASA contract to a rival, McCaleb might see a staggering $1 billion evaporate from his net worth. Talk about a cosmic crash landing! 🚀💥

“There are not that many folks who are willing to dedicate the amount of resources and time and risk tolerance that I am,” McCaleb proclaimed, as if he were the only brave soul in a sea of cowards. 🦸‍♂️

Our friend Sam Yagan, a long-time comrade and former business partner, describes McCaleb as a “deliberate risk-taker” with a penchant for hyperrationality. In layman’s terms, he’s a bit of a quirky risk junkie! 🧐

“He’s maybe slightly eccentric in his willingness to take what you and I would see as a lot of risks.”

McCaleb’s lofty aspirations to plant humans on other planets echo the ambitions of the multibillionaire Elon Musk. “It’s super important that people take this leap from where we are today to this potential world where there’s a lot of people living off the Earth,” he mused, as if he were channeling the spirit of space explorers past. 🌍✨

Vast is crafting its spacecraft with components from SpaceX, including a docking adapter to connect SpaceX’s Dragon capsule to Vast’s station and an in-space internet system that promises WiFi on the station via Starlink. Because who wouldn’t want to scroll through cat videos while floating in zero gravity? 🐱📱

McCaleb’s firm has also booked SpaceX flights to send its hardware into orbit and deliver crew to its station. SpaceX has even agreed to carry astronauts for Vast, provided NASA gives the thumbs up. Talk about a cosmic buddy system! 👨‍🚀👩‍🚀

Vast’s close ties to SpaceX are partly due to its recruitment of key personnel from the latter, including Max Haot, who now dons the hat of CEO and president at Vast. A match made in space heaven! 🌌

Vast is in a fierce competition with the likes of Axiom Space, Voyager Space Holdings, Lockheed Martin, and the Bezos-founded Blue Origin to snag the next major NASA contract. May the best space station win! 🏆

McCaleb also wants to create ‘artificial gravity’

As part of Vast’s long-term plans, McCaleb dreams of creating artificial gravity to replicate Earth-like conditions. After all, many ISS workers have reported organ damage after lengthy stints in space. Who knew space could be so hard on the body? 🏋️‍♂️

The ISS employs technology that recycles wastewater into drinkable water and carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen. Haven-1 won’t feature this due to its short-term crew visits, but Vast plans to incorporate it into its future model, Haven-2, by 2028. Because who doesn’t want to drink recycled water? 💧

2025-03-21 05:34

McCaleb also wants to create ‘artificial gravity’

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