{"title":"Orbit Fab vs Vast: Stations & habitats (orbital) compared","url":"https://www.frontiertechintelligence.com/compare/orbit-fab-vs-vast","comparison":"Vast ranks 51 on the Space 100 with a score of 74; Orbit Fab ranks 65 with 70. Orbit Fab is ahead on deployment, commercials, positioning and leverage. Vast is ahead on production, technology and firepower. Level on progress. Orbit Fab is based in Lafayette, United States, Vast in Long Beach, United States. Vast: Private, founded 2021. Orbit Fab is named in 111 signals and Vast in 76.","companies":[{"name":"Orbit Fab","url":"https://www.frontiertechintelligence.com/companies/orbit-fab","city":"Lafayette","country":"United States","stage":null,"founded":null,"last_round":null,"positioning":"Orbit Fab is a private U.S. space-logistics company developing RAFTI refueling interfaces, GRIP docking hardware, depots, and fuel-shuttle architectures for satellite servicing. Its ecosystem reach includes U.S. Space Force, DIU, AFRL, NASA, ESA, the UK Space Agency, Astroscale U.S., Impulse Space, Northrop Grumman, Airbus Defence and Space, Thales Alenia Space, and ClearSpace; however, its first commercial or government on-orbit propellant transfer has not yet been demonstrated. In 2025-26 it added ESA/UK-funded ASTRAL work, NASA Gateway fluid-transfer work, Airbus and Thales partnerships, an on-orbit Podracer demonstration, and more than $25 million of Stride-led interim financing, while its original 2025 hydrazine-service target slipped to missions now scheduled for 2027.","assessed_in":{"domain":"Space","list":"Space 100","rank":65,"score":70,"tier":"member","scores":{"leverage":10,"position":8,"progress":9,"firepower":4,"commercial":7,"deployment":9,"production":4,"technology":6},"why":"Orbit Fab sells NEST orbital fuel depots to spacecraft operators, enabling in-orbit propellant storage and repeated refueling.","segment":"Stations & habitats (orbital)","layer":"Infrastructure"},"signals_total":111,"facts_total":316},{"name":"Vast","url":"https://www.frontiertechintelligence.com/companies/vast","city":"Long Beach","country":"United States","stage":"Private","founded":2021,"last_round":null,"positioning":"Vast is a US commercial-space-station company (founder Jed McCaleb self-funding at multi-hundred-million scale) whose Haven Demo pathfinder succeeded in orbit (November 2025, power-positive) and whose Haven-1 flight structure is complete, with ~800 staff and near-everything in-house. It is the speed play of the station race (concept to orbital pathfinder in about 30 months), still positioned to be the first standalone commercial station, though its launch slipped to no earlier than Q1-2027. Haven-1 will host four crew over a three-year life, with the NASA CLD Phase 2 2026 decision as its existential catalyst. It is pre-revenue.","assessed_in":{"domain":"Space","list":"Space 100","rank":51,"score":74,"tier":"member","scores":{"leverage":4,"position":6,"progress":9,"firepower":10,"commercial":5,"deployment":8,"production":6,"technology":8},"why":"Vast is developing and operating commercial orbital space stations, including Haven-1 and the planned Haven-2, with facilities for astronaut missions, biotech experiments, and plant-growth research.","segment":"Stations & habitats (orbital)","layer":"Infrastructure"},"signals_total":76,"facts_total":85}],"note":"Assessment by Frontier Tech Intelligence; facts and signals carry their sources."}