Vast
Vast builds commercial space stations and infrastructure for government and corporate clients, with 1,162 employees and $650M in funding. It became the only operational commercial space station company after its Haven Demo launch in 2025.
The growth story
Vast grew from 33 to 1,162 employees between 2021 and 2026, raising $650M along the way, most recently a Series A in March 2026.
About
Vast develops modular space stations for microgravity research and manufacturing, targeting government agencies and private sector clients. Its Haven-1 module is set to become the first commercial space station when it launches in 2027.
The company has raised $650M in Series A funding as of March 2026. With over 1,100 employees, it has quickly scaled to become a major player in commercial space infrastructure since its 2021 founding.
Founders and leadership
Engineering is Vast's largest function with 254 employees. The company has a relatively young workforce with a median tenure of just one year.
The Vast org chart
Max Haot (Chief Executive Officer) leads 60 mapped leaders with 8 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Engineering 465 (+17% YoY), Operations 185 (+20% YoY), Information Technology 67 (+10% YoY), Quality Assurance 66 (+47% YoY), Human Resources 52 (+33% YoY), Arts and Design 34 (+62% YoY).
Talent flow
Vast heavily recruits from SpaceX (117 hires) and Virgin Orbit (41), with significant talent also coming from traditional aerospace firms like Northrop Grumman and Boeing. Alumni frequently move to other space startups like Anduril and Blue Origin.
Most common previous employers of Vast staff: SpaceX (117), Virgin Orbit (41), Northrop Grumman (33), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (27), Relativity Space (27), Boeing (24). Former Vast employees most often moved to Anduril Industries (21), SpaceX (14), Blue Origin (12), True Anomaly (9), Hadrian (8), Radiant (7).
Alumni worth knowing
The Vast mafia
Vast alumni have founded 13 companies including Gallatin AI (60 staff) and Overview Energy (47 staff), showing strong entrepreneurial spillover from the space sector.
14Daniel Buchmueller, was Senior Vice President of Engineering until 2024Robert Wiggenhorn, was Vice President, Space Station Engineering until 2025Christopher Timperio, was Staff RF Engineer until 2023Elizabeth Sanchez Chang, was Legal Intern until 2025
Lee Hunter, was Advisor until 2025
David Caponio, was Senior Vice President of Product and Business Development until 2025
Shardul Panwar, Ph.D., was Principal Mechanical Engineer until 2026
Kyle Cothern, was First Employee until 2022
Beth A. Dean-Pope, was Vice President - Corporate & Commercial Partnerships until 2026
Olivier Farache, was Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) until 2026
Christopher Gault, was Additive Manufacturing Technician (Engine Production & Development) 2nd Shift until 2025Hiring now
Web traffic
Traffic mix: 31% direct, 56% search, 4% social, 1% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at Vast: Microsoft Office (349), Leadership (307), MATLAB (302), Microsoft Excel (302), SOLIDWORKS (272), Python (Programming Language) (256), Project Management (239), Communication (221).
Where the team actually sits
Vast people are concentrated in California, United States (367), Los Angeles Metropolitan Area (116), United States (38), Texas, United States (6).
Search footprint
Vast attracts about 12,830 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $8K a month if bought through ads. It gained 349 ranking keywords and lost 289 in the last period.
What employees say
- Compensation
- 4.30 / 5
- Career opportunities
- 3.60 / 5
- Senior management
- 3.20 / 5
- Work-life balance
- 3.40 / 5
Frequently asked
Vast has 1,162 employees as of September 2026.
Vast has raised $650M in total, most recently a Series A round in March 2026.
Vast was founded in 2021 by Jed McCaleb.
Max Haot (Chief Executive Officer) sits at the top of Vast's reporting structure, with 8 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current Vast staff are SpaceX (117 people), Virgin Orbit (41 people), Northrop Grumman (33 people).
Former Vast employees most often move to Anduril Industries (21), SpaceX (14), Blue Origin (12).
At least 13 companies have a founder who previously worked at Vast, including Gallatin AI, Overview Energy, Skyband.
Vast attracts about 12,830 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $8K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among Vast staff are Microsoft Office, Leadership, MATLAB, Microsoft Excel, SOLIDWORKS.
Vast staff are concentrated in California, United States (367), Los Angeles Metropolitan Area (116), United States (38).
Vast has about 465 people in Engineering, up 17% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Vast has about 185 people in Operations, up 20% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 580 current and 314 former Vast profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
Build this for any company
Every number on this page came from the Crustdata API. Point the MCP at a company and get the same org chart, alumni list and talent flow in one prompt.