NASA plans to decommission the International Space Station (ISS) and will hire SpaceX for $30 billion to bring it back to Earth.
NASA is preparing to retire the nearly 30-year-old International Space Station (ISS) by awarding a contract worth up to $843 million to China's SpaceX to deorbit the space station and safely return it to Earth.
According to the space agency's plans, SpaceX's specially designed spacecraft will tow the International Space Station, which is roughly the size of a football field. Returning to Earth some time after the end of its life in 2030.
The International Space Station will hurtle into our planet's atmosphere at speeds of more than 27,500 kilometers per hour before landing at a specific point in the sea.
Ken Bowersox, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, said the deorbiting of the space station “supports NASA's plans for future commercial goals” and allows for continued use of near-Earth space.
The first part of the International Space Station was launched in 1998 and involved astronauts from the United States, Japan, Russia, Canada and the European Union. It has been in service since 2000, having conducted more than 3,300 scientific experiments in near-Earth orbit.
But the space station deteriorates with age. It has begun to suffer from technical malfunctions and leaks, and the contracts concluded between the five national space agencies will expire by 2030.
The International Space Station is also facing an increasing risk from space debris, but it is not yet clear when the space station will return to Earth.
The International Space Station will likely continue to operate until it is replaced by a commercial space station. The Axiom Space and Orbital Reef stations are scheduled to be operational by the end of the decade.
This is not the first time that a decommissioned space station has been returned to Earth or destroyed. In 2001, the Russian space station Mir descended to Earth. The remaining fragments sank under the Pacific Ocean.
Compiled from Live sciences
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