Plans are underway to determine how best in the years ahead to retire and deorbit the aging International Space Station.<\/p>\n
The International Space Station is an incredible spacefaring achievement<\/a> that has been in orbit longer than any other outpost of its kind.<\/p>\n In fact, on Nov. 2, the orbital laboratory marked 25 years with a continuous human presence<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the space station<\/a>, which has begun to show its age, won’t remain operational forever.<\/p>\n Even now, plans are underway in the years ahead to retire and deorbit the aging space station<\/a>, which has been marred by air leaks<\/a> and other issues<\/a>. That means by the end of 2030, the iconic ISS \u2013 where the world’s astronauts have lived, worked and gazed upon the cosmos<\/a> for more than two decades \u2013 will be no more.<\/p>\n How, exactly, will NASA send an outpost the size of an American football field plummeting through Earth’s atmosphere to burn up or crash into the ocean?<\/p>\n And what comes next to ensure humanity’s place among the stars is uninterrupted?<\/p>\n Here’s everything to know about NASA’s plans to retire the International Space Station, and a little about how commercial enterprises may take up the mantle.<\/p>\n What is the International Space Station?<\/p>\n The International Space Station<\/a>\u00a0has been stationed\u00a0in low-Earth orbit for more than 25 years, typically about 260 miles high, where it has been\u00a0home to astronauts from all over the world<\/a>. Throughout its lifespan, the station has served as a test bed for scientific research in microgravity and has in years past opened itself up to private commercial missions.<\/p>\n The orbital laboratory\u00a0is operated through a global partnership<\/a> of space agencies, including NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.<\/p>\n More than 280 spacefarers from 26 countries have visited the International Space Station,\u00a0including 170 from the United States<\/a>\u00a0alone, according to NASA.<\/p>\n About 356 feet long, the station is bigger than a six-bedroom house and has\u00a0six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym and a 360-degree view bay window. The space station also has enough docks for up to eight spacecraft to be docked at one time.<\/p>\n What is the timeline for ending the ISS?<\/p>\n Decommissioning the aging cosmic outpost is the shared responsibility of the five nations whose space agencies have have operated it since 1998: the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada, NASA said in an\u00a0explanation<\/a>\u00a0of its transition plan.<\/p>\n All of those nations have committed to supporting the International Space Station operations through 2030 with the exception of Russia, which has agreed to keep going only until 2028,\u00a0according to a 2023 blogpost from NASA<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, a report from the Office of Inspector General report released in late 2024 questioned whether the space station could survive an additional five years<\/a>, considering the structural issues it has experienced.<\/p>\n How will NASA land the space station?<\/p>\n After deciding that the safest way to retire the ISS was through a controlled, targeted reentry ending in a crash landing into a remote ocean, NASA began seeking proposals in 2023 from the private industry.<\/p>\n SpaceX was ultimately awarded the contract<\/a>, meaning billionaire Elon Musk<\/a>‘s company is now tasked with providing the vehicle that will deorbit the space station. The craft will need to be capable of performing a propulsive maneuver to line up the reentry path into the desired uninhabited waters.<\/p>\n Many of the space station’s modules and hardware are expected to burn up, melt away or vaporize upon reentry. The denser and heat-resistant components that may survive the plunge will splash down into the ocean, where they are expected to harmlessly sink to the ocean floor, according to NASA.<\/p>\n How many astronauts are on the ISS now?<\/p>\n As of November, seven people<\/a> are living aboard the International Space Station.<\/p>\n That includes four astronauts who are part of a joint NASA and SpaceX mission\u00a0known as Crew-11<\/a>: NASA astronaut Zena Cardman<\/a>; NASA astronaut Mike Fincke<\/a>; Japanese astronaut\u00a0Kimiya Yui<\/a>\u00a0of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; and Russian Oleg Platonov, a Roscosmos cosmonaut.<\/p>\n Crew-11 launched<\/a> Aug. 1 from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida, as the spacefarers made their venture to space aboard a Dragon capsule that was propelled into orbit<\/a> atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.<\/p>\n Also aboard the station is NASA astronaut Jonny Kim,\u00a0who reached the ISS in April<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky on a Soyuz capsule launching from Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n Together, the international group of spacefarers are part of Expedition 73<\/a>.<\/p>\n What comes after the International Space Station?<\/p>\n The station’s successor will come from the private industry, as several companies are working on designs for next-generation space outposts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Because NASA is focused on astronauts reaching the moon<\/a> and Mars<\/a>, the U.S. space agency has no plans to build and operate another space station of its own. Instead, NASA is planning to fund and contract with the commercial sector for human activities in low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n “It is NASA\u2019s goal to be one of many customers in a robust commercial marketplace in low Earth orbit where in-orbit destinations as well as cargo and crew transportation, are available as services to the agency,” NASA said in its transition plan, last updated in July 2024.<\/p>\n