WASHINGTON - Commercial space station developer Vast has brought in Steve Isakowitz, the former president and CEO of The Aerospace Corp., as a senior adviser, presumably to help navigate the bureaucratic labyrinth that is NASA's Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations (CLD) program.

Isakowitz, who retired from The Aerospace Corp. last year after nine years at the helm, has a résumé that reads like a tour of the space-industrial complex: senior stints at Virgin Galactic, NASA, the Department of Energy, and the Office of Management and Budget. He noted that his career spans much of the International Space Station's history, which he described as having "an incredible run" that's now ending at an "exciting time for the industry."

Vast is one of several companies hoping to build the ISS's successors, with NASA as a potential anchor tenant. Isakowitz sees this as an opportunity to realize the ISS's original vision of partnerships and research. He praised Vast's "end-to-end capability" and iterative development approach, which began with last year's Haven-Demo satellite. "Between the vision, the capability and the team, that's what really got me excited," he said.

Vast CEO Max Haot said they reached out to Isakowitz "at the first opportunity" given his experience with government stakeholders. The timing is no coincidence: Vast is awaiting details on the next phase of the CLD program, which has been through some twists. In March, NASA considered a government-owned "core module" attached to the ISS; in June, it abandoned that idea and said it would stick with multiple awards for station development. A draft request for proposals (RFP) was expected by the end of June but hadn't appeared as of June 29. Haot said it might be delayed a week or two, but he expects at least two winners. "It's in the best interest of America and NASA to keep competition and to have redundancy," he said.

Isakowitz was unfazed by the program's whiplash: "I haven't seen a program at NASA that hasn't whipsawed from different positions." He thinks NASA is "on the right track" now but stressed that once the RFP goes out, "the government's really got to commit and stay consistent." Haot appreciated NASA's willingness to listen to industry but regretted the lost time as the 2030 ISS retirement deadline looms. "We've lost a bit of time, that's the main unfortunate thing," he said. "We got a few more gray hairs and lost a bit of time."