NASA aims to de-orbit the International Space Station (ISS) when the time comes. For this program, the agency has selected Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
NASA is promoting continued scientific, educational and technological advances in low Earth orbit, while increasing its interest in deep space exploration on the Moon and Mars. The agency is also preparing for the controlled de-orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of its operational life in 2030. In this context, NASA announced that it has selected Elon Musk’s SpaceX as the company to de-orbit the ISS.
End of the road for the ISS
NASA announced that SpaceX has been selected to develop and deliver the vehicle that will de-orbit the ISS. It was also announced that the contract is worth 843 million dollars. This amount only covers the development of the vehicle. The vehicle to be developed by SpaceX will be responsible for the controlled destruction of the ISS after the end of its operational life in 2030.
The main ISS partners have committed to operate until 2030, while the Russian space authorities have confirmed their support until 2028. Although the ISS will end its life, NASA, other agencies and commercial partners continue to work on new stations to be placed in orbit.
Axiom Space, for example, is developing the Axiom Station, while Blue Origin is planning its own station, known as Orbital Reef, with Sierra Space, Boeing and Amazon. Voyager Space is also working on the Starlab complex with the help of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. California-based Vast Space plans to launch the Haven-1 module into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2025. After the ISS, it seems that space will become a more “commercial” field of activity.
