FILE PHOTO: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule stands on Pad-39A in preparation for a mission to carry four crew members to the International Space Station

FILE PHOTO: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule stands on Pad-39A in preparation for a mission to carry four crew members to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. October 3, 2022. 

 STEVE NESIUS/REUTERS

WASHINGTON  - Vast, a startup backed by cryptocurrency billionaire Jed McCaleb, is aiming to launch a school bus-sized space station to orbit by late 2025 with some help from partner SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket firm.

The cylindrical spacecraft dubbed Haven-1 is the latest platform planned as a replacement to the International Space Station, a two-decade-old orbital research laboratory run primarily by the U.S., Russia and the European Space Agency.