{"id":"ef27abcd-a57f-4f81-b9be-796694a043d3","slug":"vast-whistleblower-lawsuit-2024","kind":"regulatory_action","headline":"Former Vast engineer sues company alleging FCC radio frequency violations and wrongful termination","summary":"Christopher Timperio, a former Vast engineer who led the Haven-1 communication systems team, filed a whistleblower lawsuit in Los Angeles alleging he was wrongfully terminated for refusing to use radio frequencies that would not comply with FCC regulations. The lawsuit claims CEO Max Haot and CTO Alex Hudson pressured him to use frequencies the FCC would not approve, and that NASA expressed concerns about interference with other spacecraft. Vast denied the claims, stating outside counsel investigated and found no merit.","occurredAt":"2024-03-26T00:00:00.000Z","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":"inquiry_opened","regulatoryBody":"FCC","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":"2026-08-07T05:08:20.339Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-07T05:08:20.339Z","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":"b0591ab1-8463-4758-bad5-92663d5b7785","incidentId":"ef27abcd-a57f-4f81-b9be-796694a043d3","url":"https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2024/04/01/322746.htm","label":null,"publishedAt":"2024-04-01T00:00:00.000Z","notes":null,"title":"Private Space-Station Maker Sued Over Claims Radio Bands Misused","sourceName":"Claims Journal / Bloomberg","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-07T05:08:20.339Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-07T05:08:20.339Z"}],"responses":[],"statusEvents":[{"id":"1a6822c7-e2a8-4ea8-8b16-4972acd9101e","incidentId":"ef27abcd-a57f-4f81-b9be-796694a043d3","status":"active","reason":null,"source":null,"effectiveAt":"2024-03-26T00:00:00.000Z","createdAt":"2026-08-07T05:08:21.419Z"}],"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/vast-whistleblower-lawsuit-2024","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/vast-whistleblower-lawsuit-2024","headline":"Former Vast engineer sues company alleging FCC radio frequency violations and wrongful termination","description":"Christopher Timperio, a former Vast engineer who led the Haven-1 communication systems team, filed a whistleblower lawsuit in Los Angeles alleging he was wrongfully terminated for refusing to use radio frequencies that would not comply with FCC regulations. The lawsuit claims CEO Max Haot and CTO Alex Hudson pressured him to use frequencies the FCC would not approve, and that NASA expressed concerns about interference with other spacecraft. Vast denied the claims, stating outside counsel investigated and found no merit.","identifier":"ef27abcd-a57f-4f81-b9be-796694a043d3","datePublished":"2024-03-26T00:00:00.000Z","articleSection":"regulatory action","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":1,"primary_source_types":[]}}}