BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The Space Coast continues to grow as more commercial space companies gain a foothold in the area.

What You Need To Know

  • Vaya Space is building its Dauntless rocket

  • Company officials say they hope to launch it in 18 months to two years

  • The rocket will take off from Launch Complex 13 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

Vaya Space’s Cocoa factory is bustling, and the development of its new vortex hybrid engine is full speed ahead.

Chris Hayes, Vaya's structural engineering team lead, and his coworkers are building the company’s new Dauntless rocket.

“We wear a lot of hats here. We get into some systems, and some propellant, and we all share some responsibility,” says Hayes, who has been with the company for two years.

Each day brings the company closer to its first launch.

A big milestone just happened through a partnership with California-based Scorpius Space Launch, which made the propellant tanks that fueled the first private Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander to a successful commercial moon landing in February.

Scorpius delivered the largest cryogenic oxidizer tank in Vaya’s history. It is 23 feet long and 6 feet wide and will serve as the rocket’s core first stage.

Dauntless Rocket Specs:

  • Length: 60 feet/18.3 meters tall

  • Stage 1 diameter: 10 feet/3.07 meters wide

  • Stage 2 diameter: 4.9 feet/1.5 meters wide

“It’s the largest component we as a company have ever received, or made, and it’s one of the largest existing all-around oxygen tanks completely made out of carbon fiber,” Hayes explains.

This reflects the growth of Vaya, which started in 2017 with only seven people. The company now has more than 50 employees.

“We have this facility, we have our test facility, we have our new large engine test facility we are finishing up for that engine, and just this last year, the Space Force awarded us Launch Complex 13 as a home for our launch vehicle,” Vaya Space Chief Executive Officer Robert Fabian says.

The new tank will be part of something never accomplished.

“We want this to be a pathfinder and serve as a tool for us to learn how we are going to put the rest of the rocket together,” Hayes says.

Using Vaya’s 3D-printed recycled plastic fuel, it will reduce the costs of getting from launch to orbit.

Each piece of the puzzle brings this small commercial company closer to that goal.

Vaya is about 18 months to two years away from its first flight from Launch Complex 13 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.