The UK Space Agency has signed a deal with US startup Vast that could put John McFall on a mission to Haven-1, the company’s planned space station in orbit. If it happens, McFall would become the first person with a physical disability to live in space.
The timing matters because Vast is aiming to launch Haven-1 in 2027, and the agreement moves McFall’s long-running selection effort from theory to a concrete plan. He is already a member of the European Space Agency astronaut reserve and was cleared for activities in orbit last year, making him one of the few people who could realistically take part if the mission is funded and scheduled.
McFall, 45, from Hampshire, has spent years turning a life changed by injury into a career built on precision and endurance. He lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident at 19, later won bronze in the 100m at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and qualified as an NHS orthopaedic surgeon before being selected in 2022 for Esa’s Fly! project.
That project is the bridge to Haven-1. Vast is building the station in California, a craft a little smaller than a single-decker bus that would house up to four astronauts. Its maplewood veneer interior, domed window for observing Earth and laboratory for microgravity research are meant to make the station feel usable as well as futuristic, and the proposed two-week mission would focus on how the space environment affects McFall’s body and modern prosthetic limbs.
McFall has embraced the opportunity, but not the packaging. He has described the mission as an exciting chance to explore, learn and be part of something historic, while also making clear he does not want it treated as a publicity exercise or a passing trend. For him, the point is not simply to make a headline; it is to prove that disability does not rule out astronaut work.
That is why the deal matters beyond one flight. If the mission goes ahead, it would test a question space agencies have only begun to answer: whether long-duration missions can be opened to astronauts with physical disabilities without lowering the bar for safety or performance. The UK Space Agency says it will support Vast as it looks for sponsorship to fund McFall’s flight, and astronauts would travel to Haven-1 in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket.
There is still no guarantee McFall will fly. Vast must secure the money, and the mission would still need to survive the usual pressures of launch schedules, engineering and investor patience. Another route is already on the table: a private Vast mission to the International Space Station next year. Either way, the agreement has taken McFall from symbol to candidate, and the next decision is no longer whether he belongs in the conversation but whether the flight is paid for and put on the calendar.
If it clears those hurdles, McFall would do more than reach orbit. He would put a human face on a test that could reshape who gets imagined as an astronaut, and he would become the first Briton in space since Tim Peake’s six-month mission to the International Space Station in 2015-16.
