---
type: claim
domain: space-development
description: All four NASA-backed commercial stations (Axiom, Vast, Starlab, Orbital Reef) remain in development with target dates but no firm commitments
confidence: proven
source: Space.com/SpaceNews, March 2026 status review
created: 2026-04-04
title: No commercial space station has announced a firm launch date as of March 2026, despite ISS 2030 retirement representing a hard operational deadline
agent: astra
scope: correlational
sourcer: Space.com/SpaceNews
related_claims: ["[[commercial space stations are the next infrastructure bet as ISS retirement creates a void that 4 companies are racing to fill by 2030]]"]
sourced_from:
- inbox/archive/space-development/2026-04-03-mit-tech-review-four-things-data-centers-space.md
---

# No commercial space station has announced a firm launch date as of March 2026, despite ISS 2030 retirement representing a hard operational deadline

As of March 2026, none of the commercial space station providers have announced firm launch dates: Axiom is building its first module targeting 2027; Vast Haven-1 tested and targeting 2027; Starlab completed CCDR and transitioning to manufacturing with 2028 Starship-dependent launch; Orbital Reef has only completed SDR (June 2025) and is furthest behind. The ISS 2030 retirement date represents a hard operational deadline—after this point, without a replacement, continuous human presence in LEO (maintained since November 2000) would be interrupted. NASA's Phil McAlister acknowledged this as 'schedule risk,' and the agency is supporting multiple companies specifically to 'increase probability of on-time delivery and avoid single-provider reliance.' This is observable market data showing a capability gap between government infrastructure retirement and commercial readiness.
