NASA and its international partners plan to deorbit the International Space Station at the end of 2030, sending it to a fiery death as it burns up in Earth’s atmosphere. But that doesn’t mean humanity will be giving up its sustained presence in low-Earth orbit.

The demise of the ISS will usher in a new era of commercial space stations. Several companies are already developing orbital research facilities and modular habitats that will allow astronauts to continue living and working in space. Many believe their stations will offer increased flexibility, affordability, and new opportunities for both scientific discovery and space-based industry.

Here are five key companies stepping up to fill the gap the ISS will leave behind.

1. Axiom Space

Axiom Space has received $140 million from NASA to develop Axiom Station through the agency’s LEO Destinations program. In February, the company raised an additional $350 million in private investor funds to accelerate the delivery of its ISS successor.

Construction of Axiom Station is already underway, according to Axiom’s website. The company’s partners at Thales Alenia Space—a global space manufacturer—are in the process of welding and machining the space station’s first module, and the first pieces of fabricated flight hardware are coming together. Axiom plans to launch that module to the ISS in 2027.

Docking the module to the ISS will allow Axiom to test and validate its systems in orbit before the module separates and rendezvous with the second module in orbit. After that, Axiom Station will be able to operate independently, but the company will still need to attach three more modules to fully build out the station’s living and research capabilities.

Once complete, the primary components of Axiom Station will be two habitat modules and a research and manufacturing module, but the company intends to add others too. One planned addition is the SEE-1 module, which Axiom is manufacturing for the British company Space Entertainment Enterprise. SEE-1 will serve as an entertainment venue—potentially the first one in space.

2. Vast Space

Axiom isn’t the only company targeting a 2027 launch for its space station. Vast Space is aiming to launch Haven-1 next year, too. Unlike Axiom, however, Vast’s space stations are designed to operate independently from day one.

The first, Haven-1, will be a standalone station capable of supporting a crew of up to four astronauts for short-duration research missions and commercial activities. It will primarily consist of crew quarters, a common area, and a laboratory that will serve as a microgravity research and manufacturing facility. In mid-January, Vast announced that Haven-1 had advanced to the first phase of integration and is on track to launch in the first quarter of 2027.

Haven-1 will be a stepping stone to Haven-2, which is designed to succeed the ISS. Vast plans to launch the first Haven-2 module in 2028, then add new modules every six months for a total of four by 2030. At that size, the space station will be able to support crews of up to eight astronauts. By 2032, Vast plans to expand the station to nine modules capable of supporting up to 12 astronauts.

Vast missed out on the first round of NASA’s LEO Destinations program, but it does have existing agreements with the agency and is vying for a contract in the second round. Earlier this month, the company announced that it has raised $500 million in private funding to accelerate the production of its Haven space stations.

3. Blue Origin and Sierra Space

These two aerospace companies have teamed up to lead the development of Orbital Reef, which Blue describes as a “mixed-use business park” 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth. The station will be designed to provide research, industrial, international, and commercial customers with space habitation, equipment accommodation, and even an onboard staff.

In its initial phase of deployment, Orbital Reef will consist of five modules. The primary modules will be the Core—a central hub with about a third of the habitable space of the ISS—a research module, and an expandable habitat module. It will be capable of supporting up to 10 crew members.

Orbital Reef has received $172 million from the LEO Destinations program on top of corporate investments. In April 2025, NASA announced that Orbital Reef completed a human-in-the-loop testing milestone, in which people performed day-in-the-life walkthroughs of life-sized mockups of major station components. This will inform design recommendations for the station.

Blue and Sierra plan to launch the first modules by 2027, though that seems optimistic given the fact that Orbital Reef is still in the design phase. It’s also unclear exactly how long it will take to scale the station to its final capacity.

4. Starlab Space LLC

Starlab Space LLC, a joint venture between Voyager Space and Airbus, is developing Starlab Space Station as part of the LEO Destinations program. In mid-February, the company announced that it had completed a critical NASA review, clearing the way to proceed with fabrication, testing, and assembly of its station.

Like Haven-1, Starlab Space Station will launch as an operationally independent system capable of supporting up to four astronauts. It will consist of a service module—providing propulsion, power, and systems support—and a habitat module that will be launched to orbit on a single flight set to take place in 2029.

The station will be equipped with both a laboratory designed to support a range of experiments and technology demonstrations in microgravity. The lab will be divided into two main sections: the Internal Payload Laboratory (IPL) and the External Payload Laboratory (EPL). The IPL will support biological studies, human studies, materials studies, and more, while the EPL will support the testing and operation of payloads.

5. Max Space

This Florida-based startup is the newcomer on the scene. Max Space unveiled its plans to develop Thunderbird Station in December 2025, though it first shared plans for inflatable space station modules back in 2024. The company did not compete for a Phase 1 award from the LEO Destinations program but now hopes to win a NASA contract in Phase 2.

Thunderbird is another small, single launch station capable of supporting up to four astronauts at a time. The design is based on Max Space’s inflatable habitat technology. Once in orbit, it will expand to a volume of more than 12,000 cubic feet (350 cubic meters)—the company claims it will be the most spacious space station ever built. The station will be equipped with payload lockers to support government and commercial missions as well as research equipment.

Max Space is targeting a 2029 launch, but it’s still too early to say whether the company is on track to hit that target. The company aims to launch its first in-orbit expandable habitat demonstration in the first quarter of 2027.

Earlier this month, Max Space announced a “multi-million-dollar” strategic investment from Voyager Technologies to “advance the development of next-generation expandable space habitats supporting sustained lunar operations and future deep-space missions,” but it’s unclear how much of that funding—if any—will go toward Thunderbird.