As the ISS approaches “retirement”, NASA has just chosen the company responsible for manufacturing the device responsible for deorbiting the space laboratory. It will be SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company.
More than 25 years after its commissioning, the ISS will soon have to cease its activities. Indeed, if everything goes as planned, the international space station is expected to dive into the ocean in 2031. In this context, NASA turns to the private sector in order to establish the successor to the ISS. But the agency also intends to delegate the construction of the vessel which will be responsible for deorbiting the imposing structure.
Last year, NASA has launched a call for tenders for this purpose. And, last Wednesday, the agency revealed its choice: it will be SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company, which will be responsible for developing the ISS deorbiter. This choice is hardly surprising, when we know that NASA already collaborates with SpaceX as part of the Artemis program, which aims to send astronauts back to the Moon.
ISS: a risky maneuver?
NASA Associate Administrator Ken Bowersox said: “ The selection of a U.S. deorbit vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition to low Earth orbit upon termination of station operation. »
However, such a maneuver is not without risk. We particularly remember a recent incident, which saw a battery pack coming from the ISS crash into a house. It is therefore possible that certain parts of the ISS survive atmospheric reentry, which may prove particularly dangerous.
To remedy this possible problem, NASA plans to aim for point Nemo in the Pacific Ocean. This place is known as the “space graveyard” because it is often the target of controlled descents of space debris.
Anyway, while waiting for its deorbit, the ISS is not idle. Indeed, the United States, Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency have committed to operating the station and sending astronauts there until 2030. Russia, for its part, says it wants continue its operations until 2028.
Source : digitaltrends
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