Axiom is suing Vast for copying its Private Astronaut Mission 'roadmap' submission to NASA
Axiom Space has sued its rival company Vast Space over what is an alleged reproduction of its work, according to a report by Ars Technica. The lawsuit revolves around Private Astronaut Missions (PAM)—a NASA program that has allowed private companies to visit the International Space Station since 2019. Axiom Space moved federal court and invoked the False Claims Act, alleging that Vast copied its Mission Integration and Operations Management Plan (MIOMP). This document, which the lawsuit describes as essentially containing the "roadmap for the entire mission," is a contractual obligation and is subject to NASA's approval. In response to the allegation, Vast CEO Max Haot took to X, sharing a clarification on behalf of the company: "Vast did not take anything from Axiom, and any suggestion otherwise is false."
A key clarification from @vast: The Mission Integration and Operations Management Plan was provided to Vast in the normal course of business by a subcontractor that supplies services to Vast and Axiom, using standard documentation adapted from prior missions, as is common practice for NASA private astronaut missions. The version provided to Vast included material carried over from an earlier Axiom mission. Within a day of submitting the document to NASA, Vast proactively informed NASA that the document needed to be corrected and resubmitted a revised version the next day. When NASA later asked us to take additional steps, we did so immediately, and we have cooperated with NASA throughout. Vast did not take anything from Axiom, and any suggestion otherwise is false. If Axiom chooses to press forward with this meritless claim, we will defend ourselves vigorously. In the meantime, our team remains focused on our work with NASA.
— Max Haot (@maxhaot) November 11, 2026
The alleged plagiarism came to light when NASA reviewed Vast's submission. The lawsuit claims that Vast had replaced Axiom's name with the term "the PAM Provider" in some parts of the document and left Axiom's name and company details in other places. This prompted the space agency to alert Axiom about a possible breach. Vast firmly denied any intentional wrongdoing, attributing the overlap to a shared subcontractor. "The Mission Integration and Operations Management Plan was provided to Vast in the normal course of business by a subcontractor that supplies services to Vast and Axiom, using standard documentation adapted from prior missions, as is common practice for NASA private astronaut missions," the company statement read. "The version provided to Vast included material carried over from an earlier Axiom mission."
Vast's statement also claims that it handled the error transparently. "Within a day of submitting the document to NASA, Vast proactively informed NASA that the document needed to be corrected and resubmitted a revised version the next day," the statement continued. The company added that when the public agency asked them to take additional steps, they "did so immediately, and we have cooperated with NASA throughout." Currently, the U.S. Department of Justice has declined to intervene formally, leaving the two companies to settle the dispute in court.
Axiom is leading the PAM race by a mile and a half, having won contracts for the first four missions (Axiom-1, or Ax-1 to Ax-4) to the orbital outpost. In fact, it also has the contract for the fifth PAM (Ax-5) in the bag, which is set to take place in January next year. Vast, meanwhile, has secured the contract for the sixth, becoming only the second company to win a PAM contract. This one is also slated for next year, albeit in the summer. So far, all of these private flights have used the SpaceX Dragon crew capsules to ferry their respective astronauts to the ISS for stays lasting roughly two to three weeks. Aimed at boosting commercial activity in low-Earth orbit, these missions provide companies like Vast and Axiom the data and the experience they need to develop their own space station programs, called Axiom Station and Haven, respectively. The ISS will be de-orbited by the turn of the decade, leaving these commercial stations to fill the gap.
Haven Demo: The Road to Haven-1 Vast is the only operational commercial space station company to have flown and operated its own spacecraft in orbit, validating key technologies for the world's first commercial station. https://t.co/E0Ye5aVw0D https://t.co/9RgRbnhlEG
— Vast (@vast) November 8, 2025
The final proposals to NASA from companies competing to build a commercial replacement for the orbital outpost are due December 14. Axiom has already completed preliminary and critical design reviews in collaboration with NASA, and the first module of its space station, called the Payload Power Thermal Module (PPTM), is undergoing final assembly at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, per an update shared this October. Scheduled to launch in 2028, this module will dock with the ISS to allow for the safe transfer of critical infrastructure and payloads. Eventually, it will see more modules added after flying independently, the first of which will be the Habitat 1. Meanwhile, Vast is pushing to launch Haven-1 as early as 2027. This will serve as an experimental platform ahead of a much larger, multi-module Haven-2 station, which is being presented by the company as the successor to the ISS. So the timing of this lawsuit is delicate, especially for Vast, which finds itself on the receiving end.
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