Signaling its commitment to global scientific collaboration and expanding access to microgravity research and in-space commercial development

‍Long Beach, CA – April 8, 2025 — Vast, the pioneering space habitation technology company, announced today Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation (JAMSS), Interstellar Lab, and Exobiosphere as the latest payload partners for its Haven-1 Lab, the world’s first commercial crewed microgravity research and manufacturing facility in space—unlocking a new era of orbital innovation through a fully commercial platform. Launching inside Haven-1, the world’s first commercial space station, the lab is on track for deployment in May 2026 and is already nearing full capacity.

The three companies—leaders in space systems, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical research—join existing Haven-1 Lab partners Redwire and Yuri, reinforcing Vast’s mission to enable international collaboration in low-Earth orbit (LEO) and accelerate scientific breakthroughs that benefit humanity and support long-term space habitation. The new partners will leverage the microgravity environment of the Haven-1 Lab by installing payloads focused in the areas of advanced materials development, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical development.

“We are honored to welcome our new partners to the Haven-1 Lab—an essential step toward building a thriving ecosystem for science, innovation, and collaboration in space. These partnerships reflect a growing global recognition that microgravity is not just a research environment, but a catalyst for transformative breakthroughs. With Haven-1, we aim to redefine what’s possible in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals—accelerating discovery, enhancing safety, and unlocking new frontiers for life on Earth and beyond,” said Max Haot, CEO of Vast.

JAMSS, founded in 1990, is a Japan-based leader in the specialized development and management of space systems and technology, and has most notably operated Kibo, the Japanese Experiment Module on the International Space Station (ISS). JAMSS will develop a multi-purpose payload facility that accommodates microgravity experiments and small payload modules. These sub-payloads include devices for colloidal photonic crystallization (a process for developing advanced optical materials), interfaces for commercial merchandise items, and many other applications.

"Partnering with Vast, the pioneer behind the world’s first commercial space station, is about more than just expanding the number of LEO applications. This collaboration can help elevate awareness of the commercial LEO market across Japan and Asia, and we are deeply committed to supporting this initiative,” said Teru Aruga, President of JAMSS.

Interstellar Lab, founded in 2018, is a US and France-based company developing autonomous AI-powered greenhouse systems and studying how plants grow in LEO. Interstellar Lab’s Eden 1.0 is a next-generation BioCapsule engineered for advanced life science research on orbital stations. A direct spin-off from Interstellar Lab’s food production system NuCLEUS, which won the NASA Deep Space Food Challenge, Eden 1.0 is a fully automated controlled-environment greenhouse with autonomous climate and light and fertigation control. Equipped with several sensors and cameras, Eden 1.0 captures real-time data, allowing Interstellar Lab to perform comparable experiments on the ground. The goal is to measure and understand the impact of microgravity on plant growth, including nutrient dynamics, phenotyping, and genetic adaptation. 

“We are excited to take our technology into space in partnership with Vast,” said Barbara Belvisi, CEO and Founder of Interstellar Lab. “With Eden 1.0 in the Haven-1 Lab, we can provide new plant growth capabilities in space to conduct research and measure how biological life responds to low gravity environments. It’s a crucial step towards our larger vision of providing advanced bioregenerative life support systems for future habitats on the Moon and Mars.”

Founded in 2024, Exobiosphere is a Luxembourg-based space biotechnology company that develops high-throughput screening platforms in space to accelerate drug discovery and streamline pre-clinical trial testing. Exobiosphere will install its Orbital High Throughput Drug Screening Device (OHTS) to conduct microgravity experiments that can accelerate cell growth and uncover cellular behaviors that are not observable under Earth’s gravity. Results from OHTS will provide pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare companies with insights to create therapeutics to improve human life on Earth and in space. 

"Vast’s Haven-1 Lab offers state-of-the-art in-space research and science facilities for our high-throughput screening platforms. Partnering with Vast propels our vision to revolutionize drug discovery,” said Kyle Acierno, CEO of Exobiosphere. “Microgravity gives us a powerful new vantage point to explore disease at the cellular level. By integrating our high-throughput platforms with Haven-1’s advanced facilities, we aim to dramatically speed up breakthrough therapies and reshape how we approach healthcare on Earth and beyond.”

This milestone and expansion of Haven-1 Lab partners underscores the company’s steadfast dedication to aligning with global objectives for LEO innovation and opening the commercial LEO economy to more countries and companies.

If you would like to become a payload partner or payload end user, please visit vastspace.com/haven-1-lab.

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Newly Announced Haven-1 Lab Partners

‍JAMSS

JAMSS will install a multi-purpose payload facility that accommodates microgravity experiments and small payload modules. These sub-payloads include devices for colloidal photonic crystallization (a process for developing advanced optical materials), interfaces for commercial merchandise items, and many other applications.

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Interstellar Lab

Interstellar Lab’s Eden 1.0 is a plant growth unit designed to conduct research on plants in a microgravity environment on a space station. Installing Eden 1.0 inside the Haven-1 Lab will allow Interstellar Lab to conduct research that will measure and understand the impact of microgravity on plant growth.

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Exobiosphere

Exobiosphere will install its Orbital High Throughput Drug Screening Device (OHTS) in the Haven-1 Lab to conduct microgravity experiments that can accelerate cell growth and uncover cellular behaviors that are not observable under Earth’s gravity. Experiment results will provide pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare companies with insights to create therapeutics to improve human life on Earth and in space. 

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About Vast
Founded in 2021 by Jed McCaleb, Vast is developing humanity’s next-generation space stations and pioneering the path to long-term living and thriving in space. Haven-1, scheduled to be the world’s first commercial space station, is currently in development and is expected to launch NET May 2026. Vast is also developing Haven-2, the proposed successor to the International Space Station (ISS), designed to serve NASA’s Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) program as a micro-gravity laboratory in space. Vast’s long-term ambition is to create artificial gravity habitations that enable humans to live in space, reaffirming its commitment to ensuring a spacefaring future for all.

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Media Contact
Communications, Vast
press@vastspace.com
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About JAMSS
JAMSS is engaged in operations, utilization, training, and safety-related work for the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" on the ISS. As space is now becoming a new economic zone for private sectors, JAMSS is also advancing the provision of utilization services with the protein crystal growth device "Kirara" as a private company, contributing widely to the expansion of LEO utilization as a bridge between Earth and space.

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About Interstellar Lab
Founded in 2018, Interstellar Lab is an American-French company whose mission is to preserve life on Earth and help it expand to space. They develop autonomous AI-powered greenhouse systems, BioPods and BioCapsules that create ideal conditions for plants to grow faster and better. On Earth, they provide solutions to the health, beauty and food industry for efficient production of high-value botanicals. In Space, they provide a scientific platform to study how plants grow in low earth orbit while preparing for lunar and martian deployment. Located between south of Paris (France) and Cape Canaveral (USA), the company of 40 engineers and scientists is looking to expand in Texas in 2025.

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About Exobiosphere
Exobiosphere is the world’s first contract research organization dedicated to high-throughput testing and drug discovery in space. By combining space-grade lab automation, microgravity research, and analytics, the company helps researchers, pharmaceutical, biotech, and beauty partners enhance scientific discovery and accelerate product development while reducing late-stage failures. Exobiosphere’s automated orbital platform delivers new insights into disease modelling and compound efficacy that are difficult to obtain on Earth. Through this work, it aims to shorten R&D timelines and bring safer, more effective treatments and formulations to market.

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