The International Space Station will be retired in 2030. NASA announced on Wednesday, June 26, that it had selected the SpaceX agency to build the machine that will deorbit the ISS and lead it to its disintegration.
It is the end of an era that is emerging. On June 26, 2024, NASA announced that it had commissioned SpaceX to build a vehicle capable of deorbiting the International Space Station (ISS). Indeed, the space agency’s press release marks the retirement of the ISS for 2030, which has been orbiting approximately 400 km from Earth since 1998.
Initially, the end of the spacecraft’s life was planned for 2024, but NASA estimated that it could be used for a few more years. However, the regular maintenance required by the ISS is beginning to reflect the advanced age of the building, especially as NASA moves towards increasingly ambitious space missions.
a fall into the pacific
For this death scheduled several years in advance, the spacecraft from SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company, must be able to push the International Space Station back towards the Earth’s atmosphere. This controlled deorbiting should thus lead to the disintegration of the building.
To avoid falling debris which could be a risk for the population, the ISS should be pushed towards the Pacific and Point Némo, the maritime pole of inaccessibility farthest from any land surface. The SpaceX machine will be operated by NASA and should also be destroyed in the Earth’s atmosphere.
a juicy contract for spacex
This is a new major contract that SpaceX has won, the latter could reach 843 million dollars, or a little more than 788 million euros. “SpaceX is honored to be tasked by NASA to support this crucial mission,” the company wrote on X (formerly Twitter), also acquired by Elon Musk.
Permanently inhabited for more than twenty years, the United States, Japan, Canada and the Europeans have committed to continuing their operations in the station until 2023. Russia has announced that it will withdraw its astronauts in 2028.
no second iss
NASA is not planning to replace the International Space Station at this time. Instead, it plans to use private and commercial stations. Several companies are already working on the problem: Starlab is expected to build a station in collaboration with Voyager Space, Airbus and Mitsubishi Corporation.
In 2023, Vladimir Putin announced that he wanted to launch the first segment of a new Russian space station in 2027. China has had a space station since 2011. Named Tiangong (the Heavenly Palace in French), a new crew was sent last April.
