{"id":"058ccc0e-7905-4ba5-86c8-9dee2f7797b2","slug":"vast-orbiter-sn3-malfunction-2023","kind":"malfunction","headline":"Vast Orbiter SN3 spacecraft spins out of control after SpaceX Transporter-8 deployment","summary":"Vast's Orbiter SN3 space tug was deployed from SpaceX's Falcon 9 Transporter-8 mission on June 12, 2023, but began improperly spinning at 60 rpm. The company elected to immediately deploy all small sat payloads on board. The malfunction prevented the Otter Pup docking mission with Starfish Space from being accomplished. The failure caused a delay of the Orbiter SN5 mission from fall 2023 to February 2024.","occurredAt":"2023-06-21T00:00:00.000Z","reviewStatus":"unreviewed","modelId":null,"deploymentId":null,"companyId":"fee1fd01-50e9-4606-a0a7-d9597ded15c5","aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"none","reviewNote":null,"severity":"moderate","rootCauseCategory":null,"rootCauseDetail":null,"affectedUnitsCount":null,"affectedUnitsBasis":null,"remediationStatus":null,"regulatoryAction":"none","regulatoryBody":null,"propertyDamageEstimateUsd":null,"damageEstimateBasis":null,"bodilyInjurySeverity":null,"fatalityCount":null,"lossCostClass":null,"sourceQualityTier":null,"oshaRecordable":null,"oshaCaseNumber":null,"rootCauseDisclosed":null,"publicDisclosureDate":null,"insuranceClaimPublic":null,"formFactor":null,"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"autonomyClass":null,"legalOutcomeClass":"unknown","createdAt":"2026-08-07T05:08:18.539Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-07T05:08:18.539Z","model":null,"deployment":null,"company":{"id":"fee1fd01-50e9-4606-a0a7-d9597ded15c5","name":"Vast Space","slug":"vast-space","description":"Privately held American aerospace company developing next-generation commercial space stations, including Haven-1 and Haven-2. Founded by Jed McCaleb (Ripple co-founder) and led by CEO Max Haot, Vast is the only commercial space station company to have flown and operated its own spacecraft in orbit — the Haven Demo testbed launched November 2025 and was successfully deorbited February 2026.","status":"active","founded":2021,"hq":"Long Beach, California, USA","hqLat":null,"hqLng":null,"hqGeocodedAt":null,"hqAddress":null,"hqPrecision":null,"website":null,"fundingTotal":null,"type":"hardware","reviewStatus":"reviewed","lifecycleState":"active","supersededByCompanyId":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.vastspace.com/","title":"Vast Space — Building next-generation space infrastructure","source_name":"Vast Space (company website)","date_accessed":"2026-08-06"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Founded","value":"2021"},{"label":"HQ","value":"Long Beach, CA, USA"},{"label":"Notable","value":"First commercial space station company; Haven Demo pathfinder launched"},{"label":"Product","value":"Haven-1 commercial space station"},{"label":"CEO","value":"Max Haot"},{"label":"Founder","value":"Jed McCaleb"},{"label":"CTO","value":"Alex Hudson"},{"label":"Total Funding","value":"$500M (Series A + debt, March 2026); $1B+ total invested (company-reported)"},{"label":"Post-money Valuation","value":"$6.8B (company-reported, March 2026)"},{"label":"Key Partner","value":"SpaceX (launch and crew transportation)"},{"label":"NASA Agreement","value":"CCSC-2 agreement (2023); Sixth private astronaut mission to ISS (Feb 2026)"},{"label":"Subsidiary","value":"Launcher (acquired Feb 2023)"},{"label":"Founder/Chairman","value":"Jed McCaleb"},{"label":"Employees","value":"1,000+"}],"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":null,"atsSlug":null,"factoryLocations":null,"manufacturingCapacity":null,"orgType":null,"burnSignal":null,"litigationEvents":null,"insurancePostureDisclosed":null,"unitEconomicsDisclosed":null,"tickerSymbol":null,"stockExchange":null,"secCik":null,"revenueUsd":null,"revenueBasis":null,"revenueAsOf":null,"employeeCount":1000,"employeeCountBasis":null,"employeeCountAsOf":null,"marketCapUsd":null,"marketCapAsOf":null,"marketCapSource":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-07T05:00:34.198Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-07T05:41:13.848Z"},"derived":{"status":"active"},"sources":[{"id":"12b8de04-fc17-475c-b353-2e92bc9bea1a","incidentId":"058ccc0e-7905-4ba5-86c8-9dee2f7797b2","url":"https://www.geekwire.com/2023/spinning-spacecraft-starfish-space-docking-test/","label":null,"publishedAt":"2023-06-21T00:00:00.000Z","notes":null,"title":"Spinning spacecraft forces Starfish Space to call off docking test","sourceName":"GeekWire","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-07T05:08:18.539Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-07T05:08:18.539Z"},{"id":"2a7dd7f6-c8a0-4085-b48c-245102847c05","incidentId":"058ccc0e-7905-4ba5-86c8-9dee2f7797b2","url":"https://spacenews.com/second-orbiter-transfer-vehicle-malfunctions/","label":null,"publishedAt":"2023-06-23T00:00:00.000Z","notes":null,"title":"Second Orbiter transfer vehicle malfunctions","sourceName":"SpaceNews","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-07T05:08:18.539Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-07T05:08:18.539Z"}],"responses":[],"statusEvents":[{"id":"fefb04c8-88e7-40b5-9cc3-00c7388f968f","incidentId":"058ccc0e-7905-4ba5-86c8-9dee2f7797b2","status":"resolved","reason":null,"source":null,"effectiveAt":"2023-06-21T00:00:00.000Z","createdAt":"2026-08-07T05:08:19.405Z"}],"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/vast-orbiter-sn3-malfunction-2023","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/vast-orbiter-sn3-malfunction-2023","headline":"Vast Orbiter SN3 spacecraft spins out of control after SpaceX Transporter-8 deployment","description":"Vast's Orbiter SN3 space tug was deployed from SpaceX's Falcon 9 Transporter-8 mission on June 12, 2023, but began improperly spinning at 60 rpm. The company elected to immediately deploy all small sat payloads on board. The malfunction prevented the Otter Pup docking mission with Starfish Space from being accomplished. The failure caused a delay of the Orbiter SN5 mission from fall 2023 to February 2024.","identifier":"058ccc0e-7905-4ba5-86c8-9dee2f7797b2","datePublished":"2023-06-21T00:00:00.000Z","articleSection":"malfunction","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"},"author":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"unreviewed","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":2,"primary_source_types":[]}}}