MADRID, June 27 (EUROPA PRESS) –
NASA has entrusted Space X with a spacecraft capable of deorbiting, for destruction in the atmosphere, the International Space Station when its operational life ends in 2030.
While Space X will develop the deorbiting spacecraft, NASA will take it over after development and operate it throughout its mission.. Along with the space station, this uncrewed spacecraft is expected to be destroyed as part of the atmospheric re-entry process, ensuring risk prevention for populated areas, NASA reports.
After successive expansions, the International Space Station currently reaches a weight of 420 tonswith a length of 73 square meters and a width of 109. It orbits the Earth at a height of more than 400 kilometers.
Since 1998, five space agencies, CSA (Canadian Space Agency), ESA (European Space Agency), JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, have operated the International Space Station and Each agency is responsible for managing and controlling the hardware it provides.
The station was designed to be interdependent and depends on the contributions of the entire association to function. The United States, Japan, Canada and participating ESA countries have committed to operating the station until 2030. Russia has committed to continuing station operations until at least 2028. Safe deorbitation of the International Space Station It is the responsibility of the five space agencies.
The single-award contract has a total potential value of $843 million. The deorbit vehicle launch service will be a future acquisition.
After 24 years of continuous manned operations, the space station is a scientific platform on which crew members have performed more than 3,300 experiments in microgravity focused on multiple research disciplines, including Earth and space sciences, biology, human physiology, physical sciences, and demonstrations of technology not possible on Earth.
