WASHINGTON — Vast Space, a company developing commercial space stations, has brought in an executive from another space station company to serve as an adviser.
On March 28, Vast announced that Clay Mowry has been hired as an adviser to provide support as the company works on its commercial space station plans.
Mowry was formerly the chief revenue officer at Voyager Space, which is collaborating with Airbus Defence and Space on the Starlab commercial station. This project is one of three commercial station initiatives that NASA is funding, alongside those led by Axiom Space and Blue Origin.
Max Haot, Vast's chief executive, stated that “Clay’s experience and insight will be crucial as we continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in space habitation. His contribution will play a key role in supporting Vast’s strategic direction and driving our mission forward.”
“Vast’s commitment to execution is commendable, and I look forward to collaborating with the team to drive continued growth and success in the rapidly evolving space station market,” Mowry said in the statement.
Mowry spent a little over two years at Voyager, joining the company after serving as vice president of global sales at Blue Origin. Previously, he led Arianespace’s U.S. office. He is also president of the International Astronautical Federation, which is best known for its annual International Astronautical Congress events.
Vast is privately developing Haven-1, a crew-tended module it plans to launch as soon as next year. It will be visited by one or more crews flying on SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, even though Vast does not have a NASA contract for commercial space station designs.
Vast plans to use the experience from Haven-1 to develop larger space stations, including those it will offer NASA access to through later phases of the agency’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development program. Vast received an unfunded Space Act Agreement from NASA last year to gain access to agency expertise to help in that effort. In February, Haot announced that
Vast planned to bid on upcoming private astronaut mission opportunities NASA is offering to the International Space Station . NASA has given four such missions to Axiom Space. Axiom has completed three of them, with Ax-4 scheduled to launch this fall. Haot argued that such private astronaut missions would give the company additional experience to support its future stations.Employee lawsuit
The company is also facing a legal case brought by a former employee. In a lawsuit filed with California Superior Court on March 26, Christopher Timperio, a former radio-frequency engineer at the company, claimed he was fired after disputes with company executives about planned use of spectrum for Haven-1.
In the complaint, Timperio said he alerted company leadership that its plans to use certain X- and L-band spectrum would violate Federal Communications Commission regulations. This warning came after meetings with FCC staff and a NASA spectrum manager, who noted the X-band spectrum had primary use by federal users for Earth observation.
Timperio stated in the complaint that Vast executives dismissed those worries and, during one meeting, displayed frustration physically. He stated he was soon dismissed from the company for “challenges working on technical projects and clashing with the technical direction of the leadership at Vast.”
“We know that former Vast employee Chris Timperio expressed a concern, following his departure from Vast, about the company’s plans for spectrum licensing,” Vast said in a statement to SpaceNews. “The company hired external legal counsel who conducted a comprehensive investigation into Mr. Timperio’s concerns and concluded they were unfounded. The company plans to strongly defend against Mr. Timperio’s accusations.”
Vast Space, a company developing commercial space stations, has recruited an executive from another space station company as a consultant.
