Space X will be tasked with building a vehicle that will push the International Space Station back into Earth’s atmosphere, allowing it to be destroyed once its mission ends in 2030. NASA made the announcement by awarding Elon Musk’s company a contract worth a total of $843 million.
The Space X vehicle
The American space agency had previously announced its intention to immerse the ISS in the Earth’s atmosphere above an ocean after the end of its life. Some pieces will disintegrate during the maneuver, other more resistant ones will end up in the sea. To make this operation feasible, the development of a powerful vehicle is necessary, capable of maneuvering a space station weighing approximately 430 thousand kilos. The SpaceX vehicle should allow “to deorbit the Space Station and avoid any risk to inhabited areas,” NASA said. And this vehicle, like the ISS, should then be destroyed upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
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End of ISS operations in 2030
Once developed, the vehicle will belong to NASA, which will be responsible for its operation during its mission. The United States, Japan, Canada and the Europeans have committed to continuing operations of the ISS until 2030. Russia has so far committed until 2028. “Safely removing the International Space Station from orbit is the responsibility of five space agencies,” NASA wrote. Despite the war in Ukraine, the ISS remains one of the rare areas of cooperation between Washington and Moscow.
