NASA has selected Elon Musk’s SpaceX to take down the ISS. To that end, the company will build a vehicle that will be tasked with dragging the 430-tonne space station into the Pacific Ocean in about six years.
The tender was announced this Wednesday and will have a budget of 883 million dollars, the BBC site indicated.
The first elements of the space station were launched in 1998, and continuous manned operations began in 2000.
The station orbits the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of just over 400 kilometers (250 miles) and has been home to thousands of scientific experiments.
Its structure investigated all kinds of phenomena, from the human aging process to the formulation of new types of materials.
To explain its removal, NASA engineers argued that while the lab remains structurally sound, plans need to be put in place now for its eventual removal.
elimination, as it could represent a risk if it returns to Earth autonomously.
“The selection of a U.S. deorbit vehicle for the International Space Station (ISS) will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition to low-Earth orbit at the end of station operations. This decision also supports NASA’s plans for future commercial destinations. and allows for the continued use of space near Earth,” Ken Bowersox, the agency’s director of space operations, said in a statement.
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