NASA recently announced that SpaceX has been awarded a contract worth $843 million to build a ship that will pull the International Space Station (ISS) down into the Earth’s atmosphere, to its final resting place in the Pacific Ocean. The spacecraft, called the US Suborbital Vehicle (USDV), will help destroy the ISS when it “retires” in 2030. NASA will own and control the USDV once SpaceX builds it.
The decision to select USDV for the ISS will ensure a safe and responsible transition to low Earth orbit when the station is decommissioned, according to NASA administrator Ken Bowersox. Based on previous observations of decaying space stations like Mir and Skylab, NASA engineers predict that the ISS will decay in three stages, with various components breaking off and disintegrating as it reenters the atmosphere.
To prevent any potential hazards, NASA plans to crash the ISS into a remote area in the Pacific Ocean known as Point Nemo, where larger pieces that do not burn up in the atmosphere can safely enter the ocean. The ISS, weighing about 430,000 kg, is the largest structure ever built in space and has been continuously inhabited by international crews since 2001.
Despite commitments from the US, Japan, Canada, and countries in the European Space Agency to operate the ISS until 2030, Russia has only committed to operating until 2028. With the tense US-Russian relationship, NASA is taking precautions by developing the USDV to safely bring the station down without causing harm to anyone or anything.