Cryptocurrency billionaire Jed McCaleb is spearheading an ambitious effort to build the world's first privately developed space station and send it into Earth's orbit. The story—he is prepared to risk $1 billion of his fortune to fund the mission.
What happened: In an interview with Bloomberg, the co-founder of Ripple Labs XRP/USD and the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox said, "It's super important that people take this leap from where we are today to this potential world where there's a lot of people living off the Earth."
McCaleb's California-based aerospace startup Vast is at the center of the mission, closely collaborating with Elon Musk’s SpaceX on the expedition to replace NASA’s International Space Station, which is scheduled to be decommissioned by 2030.
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Vast is assembling the module, just big enough to fit four people, using SpaceX-developed components, the report stated. Moreover, the company has booked SpaceX rockets to take its hardware into space and transfer its crew to the station.
Haven-1, the company’s space station, is tentatively scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in May 2026, after being pushed back from an original goal of August 2025.
"There's not that many folks that are willing to dedicate the amount of resources and time and risk tolerance that I am," McCaleb said in the interview, indicating his commitment to the expedition.
Ripple's co-founder and current Executive Chairman Chris Larsen hailed McCaleb's efforts via an X post, deeming it a "big, bold vision."
See Also: Are you rich? Here’s what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy.
Why It Matters: An early pioneer in the blockchain space, McCaleb set up several well-known platforms, including Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, which he sold months before a series of breaches resulted in billions in losses and ultimately bankruptcy.
He also co-founded blockchain-based payments company Ripple Labs along with Larsen in 2012 but left it in 2014 over internal disagreements.
Forbes estimates his net worth to be $2.9 billion as of this writing. Most of his wealth was in XRP tokens, which he acquired as a Ripple co-founder and steadily sold over time.
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