The POT has entrusted the company SpaceXof Elon Muska spacecraft capable of deorbiting, for destruction in the atmosphere, the International Space Station (EEI) when its operational life ends in 2030.
While SpaceX will develop the deorbiter spacecraft, NASA will take over after development and will 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 ISS, launched in 1998, currently reaches a weight of 420 tons, with a length of 73 square meters and a width of 109. It orbits the Earth at an altitude of more than 400 kilometers..
Since its launch into orbit, 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 that 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 ESA participating countries have committed to operating the station until 2030, while Russia has set the threshold at 2028 at the earliest. The safe deorbitation of the International Space Station is the responsibility of the five space agencies.
Cost
The single award contract has a total potential value of $843 million. Deorbiter launch service will be a future acquisition.
After 24 years of continuous manned operations, the space station is a scientific platform where members of the various crews that have flown to it have carried out 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.
