SpaceX is building a ship to destroy the International Space Station. At the request of NASA

• NASA has selected SpaceX to develop a vehicle that will help deorbit the ISS in 2030.

• Since 1998, the space station has been operated by five space agencies, where its materials are already experiencing fatigue.

NASA has selected SpaceX to carry out the noble task of dismantling the International Space Station, one of the largest international collaborations in history.

Consolidated apparatus. SpaceX has been selected to develop and deliver to NASA a spacecraft that will be deorbited in a controlled manner from the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of its useful life in 2030.

SpaceX will receive $843 million for this unique contract, but once the ship reaches orbit, NASA will take responsibility for it. SpaceX is also expected to receive a contract to launch a new spacecraft in the future.

Accompany the ISS to its fiery end. The vehicle, developed by SpaceX, will be used to “tow” the space station to a location away from any population where it can return safely.

NASA expects most of the ISS, as well as the deorbiting craft, to disintegrate in the atmosphere during its re-entry, which is expected over the Pacific Ocean.

More than 30 years in orbit. The International Space Station, launched in November 1998, is a microgravity laboratory operated by five space agencies.

In addition to NASA, the project involves the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Russian State Space Corporation (Roscosmos).

Russia has committed to continue operating the station until at least 2028, and the United States, Japan, Canada and ESA member countries have committed to continue operating the station until 2030.

After the ISS. The appearance of several cracks in the Russian segment shows that the International Space Station is reaching the end of its life, especially due to fatigue in its materials.

NASA considered lifting the space station into a higher orbit to continue its safe operation, but ruled it out because the same momentum could destroy its aging structures.

And even if this did not happen, there are other reasons to abandon the project, such as the increasing likelihood of collisions with space debris, extremely high maintenance costs.

Commercial stations already in development will allow space agencies to focus on human missions beyond low-Earth orbit, such as the Artemis program and future missions to Mars.

Image | POT

In Hatak | “60% chance he’ll go to the moon”: we talk to Pablo Alvarez, the first Spanish astronaut since Pedro Duque