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NASA has hired SpaceX to create a vehicle that will guide the International Space Station to the end of its useful life, in a rare operation involving technology, orbital safety, and controlled ocean descent.
NASA has chosen SpaceX to develop the vehicle that will guide the International Space Station to the end of its operation, in a maneuver planned to reduce risks to inhabited areas.
The contract has a potential value of $843 million, not including the launch, which will be contracted separately.
The equipment, called the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, will be attached to the station to guide its controlled descent into Earth’s atmosphere.
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The ISS has a mass of 419,725 kilograms, just under 420 tons, according to NASA’s own data.
Why the ISS needs a vehicle to deorbit
The station cannot be left in orbit uncontrolled.
Over time, the tendency would be a gradual loss of altitude until reentry into the atmosphere, on a trajectory more difficult to predict.
In this scenario, fragments could reach the surface without a predefined impact area.
NASA’s plan involves using a spacecraft developed by SpaceX to guide the orbital laboratory on a calculated route.
During reentry, part of the structure is expected to break apart due to friction with the atmosphere.
The fragments that survive should fall in a remote ocean region, as planned by the agency.
NASA states that the decision aims to ensure a “safe and responsible” transition at the end of the ISS operations.
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of the agency’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, stated that the choice also connects to plans for future commercial stations in low Earth orbit.
What SpaceX will deliver to NASA
SpaceX will be responsible for developing and delivering the deorbit vehicle.
After this stage, NASA will take ownership of the spacecraft and command the mission operation.
The vehicle was not announced as reusable.
According to the American space agency, it is expected to disintegrate during reentry, along with the station itself.
The operation, therefore, does not aim to recover the ISS, but to end its operational trajectory with control over the location of debris fall.
The contract announced by NASA has a potential value of US$ 843 million.
The launch service for the vehicle will still be defined in a future contract, information that indicates this cost is not included in the disclosed value for development.
International Space Station weighs almost 420 tons
The International Space Station began assembly in 1998 and became a cooperative project between the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and European countries.
The structure includes pressurized modules, solar panels, life support systems, laboratories, and living areas.
With a mass reported by NASA as 419,725 kilograms, the station functions as a permanently inhabited laboratory in low Earth orbit.
Astronauts conduct research in areas such as biology, physics, human physiology, technology, Earth sciences, and space sciences.
According to NASA, more than 3,300 experiments have already been conducted on the ISS.
The station allows studies in microgravity, a condition that cannot be permanently reproduced on the Earth’s surface.
End of the ISS depends on international agreement
The operation of the ISS involves five space agencies: NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, and CSA.
Each partner is responsible for specific parts of the structure, but the station’s systems operate in an integrated manner.
The United States, Japan, Canada, and participating countries of the European Space Agency have committed to keeping the station operational until 2030.
Russia has informed a commitment to continue at least until 2028.
The safe removal of the ISS from orbit, according to NASA, is the responsibility of all agencies involved in the program.
This arrangement makes the final stage more complex than the deactivation of a common satellite.
The station was gradually built in orbit and depends on components from different countries for navigation, power, communication, and crew support.
Why the station will not be brought back whole
Bringing the ISS intact to Earth is not part of the plan informed by NASA.
The station was assembled in space and was not designed to land or pass through the atmosphere while preserving its structure.
During reentry, orbital speed and atmospheric friction generate intense heating.
Modules, trusses, and other components must fragment along the descent.
Therefore, the mission’s focus will be to control the trajectory and reduce risks on the ground, not to recover the laboratory.
Controlled reentry has been used in other space missions, but the ISS represents a large-scale case due to its mass, size, and the number of structures attached over decades.
What changes after the end of the ISS
NASA is preparing the transition to commercial stations in low Earth orbit.
The agency’s strategy foresees companies operating platforms near the planet, while NASA directs part of its efforts to missions to the Moon, Mars, and deep space.
SpaceX already operates under contracts for transporting cargo and astronauts to the ISS.
With the new contract, the company will also participate in the phase of closing the orbital laboratory.
The choice of the deorbiting vehicle marks a less visible phase of space exploration: planning the fate of structures placed in orbit.
In the case of the ISS, ending the operation will require a calculated maneuver for a laboratory of almost 420 tons to leave space in a controlled manner.
Uhhh, why not send it to the moon.
In pieces, seems as it is modular it can be dismantled and sent in pieces. Reassembled in a lunar orbit?
I have seen discussions claiming that to be impossible however is that really the case?
500 tone of inhabitable compartments already in orbit !!! Compared to getting that much that far ?
I feel something is being left out here .
Why run the risk of bringing it back? What would it take to lift the trajectory beyond earth orbit, and launch it into deep space, or toward the sun? I’m guessing they considered and rejected that idea. Just curious.
For one thing, thrusting that much mass to escape velocity, or even to an earth centric graveyard orbit is not economically feasible. Grok says it will require a velocity change of 50-130 m/s to deorbit, to escape Earth orbit would require ~3200 m/s change.