Who will replace the International Space Station after 2030?

The International Space Station (ISS), launched in 1998, is scheduled for controlled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere in 2030. For more than two decades it has been humanity’s permanent outpost in space, but with its retirement approaching, questions remain: will there be a seamless transition to new stations, or a gap in continuous human presence in orbit? Recently, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla made history by becoming the first Indian to visit the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission, a private spaceflight collaboration with ISRO, NASA, and SpaceX.