NASA announced last Wednesday the selection of SpaceX to develop and deliver the de-orbit vehicle that will enable the safe and controlled egress of the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of its operational life in 2030. This move is part of the agency’s transition to commercial space destinations closer to Earth.
Space X will deorbit the International Space Station
In the words of Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of the Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, the choice of a U.S. de-orbit vehicle will ensure a responsible transition to low-Earth orbit and also support NASA’s future plans for commercial destinations and continued use of near-Earth space.
The contract awarded to SpaceX has a potential value of $843 million. . This includes the development and delivery of the deorbit vehicle, which will be operated by NASA throughout its mission. The launch of this vehicle will be a future acquisition, thus ensuring the destructive disintegration of the ISS during re-entry.
International collaboration
Since 1998, five space agencies have jointly operated the ISS: CSA (Canada), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), NASA (USA) and Roscosmos (Russia). Each agency has been responsible for managing and controlling the hardware it provides. The station relies on contributions from the entire partnership to operate and the participating countries have committed to operate it until 2030, with Russia maintaining operations until at least 2028.
In its 24th year of continuous crewed operations, the ISS remains an unparalleled scientific platform. Onboard experiments span multiple disciplines, including Earth and space sciences, biology, human physiology and technology demonstrations. Lessons learned on the ISS are laying the groundwork for future commercial stations.
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Source: NASA
Source: shutterstock
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