SpaceX has been awarded the contract to develop and deliver the deorbit vehicle that will bring down the International Space Station in 2030. NASA formally announced plans to decommission the station in 2022 and now it has decided that SpaceX will facilitate its splashdown into the sea. The contract is estimated to be worth $843 million. While SpaceX is responsible for developing the vehicle which will crash the space station NASA will take ownership of it and operate it during the operation. The majority of the deorbit vehicle and ISS are expected to be destroyed during the re-entry process.
We have selected @SpaceX to develop and deliver the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle and prepare for a safe and responsible deorbit of the @Space_Station after the end of its operational life in 2030. Learn more: https://t.co/ogAhEazBpt pic.twitter.com/5pyBPfobkp
— NASA (@NASA) June 26, 2024
Per NASA:
“Selecting a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations. This decision also supports NASA’s plans for future commercial destinations and allows for the continued use of space near Earth,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The orbital laboratory remains a blueprint for science, exploration, and partnerships in space for the benefit of all.”
Brief History:
The first part of the International Space Station was launched into orbit on November 20, 1998, through a partnership with Russia which delivered the control module via one of its rockets. Since then the now 25-year-old station has seen over 70 missions with crews from partner countries worldwide.
Per NASA:
“In its 24th year of continuously crewed operations, the space station is a unique scientific platform where crew members conduct experiments across multiple disciplines of research, including Earth and space science, biology, human physiology, physical sciences, and technology demonstrations not possible on Earth. Crews living aboard station are the hands of thousands of researchers on the ground having conducted more than 3,300 experiments in microgravity.”
Discussion (12 replies)
Join Discussion →Geebus I want to follow this one. Imagine if they 'accidentally' drop it on a city in a country we have a bad relationship with... like... China or Russia. That's a what.. several thousand ton weapon of mas destruction here.
The majority of it will burn up on reentry.
Kind of like the mir?
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I hope it was designed to do just that. But I don't know.
It's all extremely thin, light weight material with zero reentry shielding. I'm sure some of it will make it to the water, just not much of it.
If they can launch something to assist bringing it down... how about, oh I dunno, launching something to raise it's orbit back up? Why destroy the ISS, it's not like it's milk or eggs that goes bad? I understand maintenance is a thing. But if we destroy it, we have nothing to replace it with any time soon or likely in my lifetime....
I can see some of wanting to keep the ISS running - I think space research is a worth while endeavor.
On the other hand - it launched in 1998, and I can see the value in decommissioning it entirely for replacement. There’s been a lot of technology in the past 25 years
Deorbiting does clear it as space junk, but I hate to see it go without a replacement
It's old, constantly needing repairs, and is just small for what can be built with current technology.
SpaceX will probably have a new one built in 3 months at 1/5 the cost. LOL
SpaceX the company notorious for their trial and error approach gets the contract to do sg you must get right on the first attempt? I hope the ISS orbit does not pass above my house.
Yeah, I pretty much felt the same. I instantly figured this was just another cherry on top of the cake they were already getting from NASA.
That's not the problem.
It's mostly political as in it's not just NASA that "owns" it, but many countries do.
The costs of repairing/fixing the station to last longer than the already longer lifespan it's lived would make way more sense in building something new.
Preferably owned by the USA and not many different countries.
Problem is that everything on it is old. All the systems are old and well past their expected life. It needs a complete overhaul, and that's easier said than done in space.
Much easier to build something new, launch the pieces and assemble it in space than it is to design new everything for the IIS and replace it all in orbit.