The International Space Station will not orbit forever, and every agency that relies on it has to decide where its astronauts and experiments go next. On October 5, 2026, the European Space Agency announced a further step toward answering that question. At the 77th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2026), ESA and the commercial station company Vast signed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation after the ISS.
This is not the first agreement between the two. The new MoU replaces one signed at the ILA Berlin air show in June 2024. ESA's press release describes the new document as building on that earlier, successfully implemented one. In ESA's words, it continues the collaboration and paves the way for potential future cooperation in low Earth orbit as the agency prepares for the ISS's end of service and de-orbit.
What the agreement actually covers
An MoU is a statement of intent, not a contract, and this one says so in how it is structured. ESA's release describes a framework that covers four areas:
- Astronaut missions: potential future missions for European astronauts aboard Vast's Haven station, which Vast is currently developing.
- Hardware and infrastructure: possible ESA hardware or contributions to infrastructure.
- Utilisation: ESA use of Haven space stations, including jointly defined research campaigns, dedicated science accommodations, associated up-mass and down-mass capacity, and crew time.
- Information exchange: sharing information relevant to possible future European cargo and crew vehicles that could service Haven.
The word "possible" appears often in that list, and it matters. The agreement runs for an initial three years and starts with a joint feasibility study. According to ESA, that study is intended to produce a roadmap and an indicative schedule for any binding agreements. The MoU as described does not book seats, buy rack space or commit money. It sets up a structured process for working out whether those things make sense, and when.
Vast's own account of the signing, dated October 6 from the congress in Antalya, describes the scope in similar terms. The company says the agreement broadens cooperation across human spaceflight, science, technology and commercialization. It describes the opening phase as a joint feasibility study of research and utilization opportunities for Europe on Haven space stations, intended to produce a shared roadmap. Vast adds a phased approach: near-term focus on astronaut missions and related research on Haven-1 and on Vast-PAM-1, and, over the longer term and subject to future decisions by ESA and its Member States, European contributions to and use of future Haven stations. The plural "stations" is worth noting. Vast is presenting the partnership as reaching beyond a single spacecraft.
Who was in the room
Both organizations sent senior people to the signing. Vast's account names CEO Max Haot, VP of Crew Partnerships Shaya Afshar and President of Europe Giorgio Saccoccia for the company. For ESA it names Daniel Neuenschwander, Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, Frank de Winne, ESA LEO Exploration Group Leader, and Team Leader Valerie Zinck-Dasmien. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher is quoted in both the agency's release and Vast's account. That level of attendance is a reasonable sign the agreement is more than a routine exchange of letters, though an MoU still commits neither side to spending.
In ESA's release, Haot points to a busy schedule. He says ESA and Vast are already collaborating on four crewed missions to the ISS and Haven-1 planned for 2027, including the first crewed mission to Haven-1. Vast's own version of the quote words it as missions for four crew members, so the exact count is worth treating with care. Either way, it is the company's stated plan, not a confirmed launch manifest. Even so, it shows the near-term operational tempo Vast wants European partners to see as it pitches its stations as a home for European research.
Why It Matters
European human spaceflight has long depended on the ISS. ESA's astronauts, its laboratory hardware and much of its microgravity research programme are tied to the station. Once the ISS is retired and de-orbited, that access goes with it unless something replaces it. ESA's release puts the Vast agreement directly in that context: it is part of the agency's global preparatory work for the ISS's end of service. Aschbacher says ESA is assessing a range of options for maintaining its presence in low Earth orbit, and this MoU is one of them.
The approach is notable. In this MoU, ESA is not proposing to build or run its own station. It is setting up a framework to use, and possibly contribute hardware to, a commercially owned platform. The utilisation items in the MoU (research campaigns, science accommodations, cargo capacity, crew time) read like the shopping list of a customer, not an owner. That would be a real change for an agency that has long been a partner in a government-run station.
The clause on future European cargo and crew vehicles also deserves attention. Information exchange on that subject suggests the agencies are thinking about how European transport systems might one day connect with a commercial station, not only about where European astronauts might ride. ESA's release does not say which vehicles or on what timeline. It keeps the topic open for discussion.
The caution in the document is just as telling. A three-year term that opens with a feasibility study gives both sides time to assess options before anyone signs binding commitments. For Vast, that suggests Europe's business depends partly on the company meeting its own milestones. For ESA, it means keeping options open while the post-ISS market in low Earth orbit takes shape.
What to watch next
The first concrete output will be the feasibility study and the roadmap it is meant to deliver, which ESA says should come with an indicative schedule. Those will show whether European astronaut missions to Haven are a realistic prospect with dates attached or still an aspiration. Vast's own 2027 schedule, including the first crewed Haven-1 mission, will be the other key test. A commercial station that is flying and hosting crews makes a much stronger case to a European partner than one still on paper.
For now, the agreement's main value is direction. Europe is preparing for a low Earth orbit without the ISS, and with this MoU ESA has made clear that commercial stations are part of that planning.
