NASA Plans to Destroy International Space Station

Despite the booming success of the International Space Station, launched November 20, 1998, its time in space is coming to an end. NASA is planning the destruction of the space station due to its core aging and weakening, and because they want to extend their focus beyond low-Earth orbit. Over the next few months, NASA will be reviewing commercial proposals of vehicles capable of dismantling the space station, thus allowing it to safely drop into Earth’s atmosphere to burn up. However, NASA expects to pay nearly $1 billion on this project to avoid reliance on Russian vehicles. The end of the International Space Station is scheduled for 2030, and NASA is hoping to transition its orbital research to new commercially owned space stations in 2028. Because the ISS is seen as a symbol of international cooperation many are protesting its retirement, it is not practical or cheap to keep it in orbit indefinitely. The space station is located in low-Earth orbit, meaning that without the periodic boosts that come from Russian cargo vehicles, the ISS will be constantly pulled back down to Earth causing it to lose speed and eventually plunge through our Earth’s atmosphere. NASA’s decommissioning will be much safer than letting the ISS dive into Earth and will allow us as humans to discover more about space.