NASA has just reported that it assigned Elon Musk’s aerospace firm a budget of $843 million to dismantle the International Space Station (ISS). Under the control of various international agencies, the laboratory that orbits about 400 kilometers from the Earth’s surface began operating in 1998 and is approaching the end of its useful life.
Since the late 90’s, the ISS was established as one of the most ambitious projects in the field of space exploration. Its main merit is having allowed, for the first time, long-term human stays beyond the limits of the Earth. That same spirit will expand in the near future: as plans for the return of astronauts to the Moon advance, different organizations and companies plan to build habitats in that area.
Meanwhile, the ISS is preparing its farewell. The Russian agency Roscosmos has already announced its withdrawal from the project, while other agencies participating in the initiative, including NASA in the United States and ESA in Europe, have previously reported that those facilities will have to be dismantled due to the inexorable wear and tear that, in Sometimes, it led to failures and breakdowns.
Through a statement published this week, NASA shared details about the end of the Space Station’s journey. “We have selected SpaceX for the development and delivery of the ISS safe deorbit vehicle after the end of its operational life in 2030,” the agency said in a tweet.
Musk’s company will be in charge of the design and construction of a vehicle that will dock with the ISS and guide it towards its disintegration. In its report, NASA stressed that “safe destruction is the responsibility of the five participating agencies.” In addition to those mentioned, this group includes JAXA from Japan and CSA from Canada.
Goodbye to the ISS
The Space Station weighs more than 450 tons, a figure that is equivalent to about 500 cars or three Boeing 747 airplanes, according to El Confidencial. SpaceX must take care of this task, which already has current contracts with NASA that include resupply tasks for the ISS, astronaut flights to that destination, and even participation in the Artemis Program that plans the return of human beings to the Moon.
According to the US agency, SpaceX must have the ship ready to say goodbye to the ISS before the end of this decade. When this work is completed, the orbital laboratory modules will descend from their position, approaching the atmosphere, where they will disintegrate. If debris survives, it is expected to fall into the so-called Point Nemo, an uninhabited region in the Pacific Ocean.
