Insider Brief:
- NASA has contracted SpaceX to develop a vehicle designed to safely bring the International Space Station (ISS) down to Earth at the end of its operational life in 2030.
- The contract, valued at $843 million, tasks SpaceX with creating the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle.
- The vehicle will ensure the ISS’s safe and controlled descent, preventing any risk to populated areas.
NASA has contracted SpaceX to develop a vehicle designed to safely bring the International Space Station (ISS) down to Earth at the end of its operational life in 2030. The contract, valued at $843 million, tasks SpaceX with creating the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, which will be responsible for guiding the ISS into a controlled descent into Earth’s atmosphere.
The ISS, which is the size of a football field, has been a collaborative project between the United States, Russia, and other international partners. It has been continuously inhabited by astronauts for 23 years. As the station’s components age, NASA and its partners have decided to retire the ISS by 2030. Initially, Russia was expected to handle the deorbiting process using its own thrusters.
The SpaceX designed vehicle will ensure the ISS’s safe and controlled descent, preventing any risk to populated areas. It will also be critical to managing the end-of-life process for one of the most iconic symbols of international cooperation in space exploration.
