The International Space Station (ISS) will continue to function until 2030, before launching into the Pacific Ocean in early 2031, NASA said.
In a report released this week, the US space agency said the ISS would crash into a part of the ocean known as Point Nemo.
This is the furthest point from the coast on planet Earth, also known as the spaceship graveyard. Many old satellites and other space debris have crashed there, including the Russian space station Mir in 2001.
NASA has announced that in the future, near-Earth space activities will be led by the commercial sector.
The ISS — a joint project involving five space agencies — has been in orbit since 1998 and has been continuously occupied by astronauts since 2000. More than 3,000 research projects have been carried out in its microgravity laboratory.
However, it is only approved to run until 2024 and any extension must be agreed upon by all members.
According to NASA, the plan to retire the ISS marks a transition to the commercial sector in activities in low Earth orbit — the area of ​​space close to Earth.
“The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial destinations in low earth orbit, with assistance from NASA,” said Phil McAlister, director of commercial space at NASA.
In 2020, NASA awarded a contract to Texas-based company Axiom Space to build at least one habitable module to be connected to the ISS.
It also provided funding to three companies to develop projects for space stations and other commercial destinations in orbit.
These new projects are expected to be at least partially operational before the ISS is retired.
NASA said it wanted to create a “robust American-led commercial economy in low earth orbit”.
The commercial sector is already an important part of the US space program, with private companies responsible for transporting crew and cargo. Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft are also used.
According to NASA, there will be savings of $1.3 billion by transitioning to the private sector from low-Earth orbit activities, money that can be spent on deep space exploration.
The savings are expected because NASA will only pay for the services it needs, rather than for the maintenance and operation of the ISS.
The agency also highlighted that private sector space stations will be newer and are expected to require fewer replacement parts.
NASA said it had reviewed its budget for the ISS annually and would continue to refine its savings estimates.
The transition report published by the space agency this week came after the administration of US President Joe Biden announced that it had committed to extending the space station’s activities until 2030.
However, the extension still requires support from international partners, including Russia, and funding for the ISS is currently only approved by the US Congress until 2024.
In an interview with Russian news agency Interfax in December 2021, the head of Russia’s space program, Dmitry Rogozin, expressed a willingness to work with NASA beyond 2024.
“Attitudes speak louder than words,” he said.
“This year, we sent a new Nauka module to the ISS, which should last at least ten years.”
The Roscosmos boss also complained that US sanctions on Russia were hurting the country’s space industry — and he had previously said that Russia could end its participation in the ISS program if sanctions are not lifted.
The US and its Western allies are threatening to impose new sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine, although the exact nature of those sanctions is not yet known.
Russia had also previously said that due to structural fatigue the ISS would not be able to function beyond 2030 – and warned that outdated equipment could lead to “irreparable” failures.
Source: Folha
