The end of the International Space Station: this is how it will be removed from orbit by the end of the decade

international space station (ISSby its abbreviation in English) reaches the final stage of its life and POT He is already thinking about how to bring it out to make room for a new generation of humanity exploring the universe.

March last year POT has requested $180 million to begin development and research into a space trailer that will move the space station out of its orbit to cause it to return to the planet and destroy it.

End of the ISS

It is currently considered that ISS it has a useful life until 2028, but it may continue to operate for several more years until it is physically removed from orbit.

Plan A for this is that the engines of Progress cargo ships from Russia can guide the ship until it returns to planet Earth, where the atmosphere will destroy most of the station and the rest will undergo a controlled collision. in the Pacific Ocean.

But Russia’s desire to break away from the space program ahead of schedule (2024) to build its own ship called ROSS, problems with the United States due to the invasion of Ukraine, and even possible problems with their ships, such as leaking refrigerants in their Soyuz ships, caused POT separately explore the so-called space trailer.

The construction of the ship, yes, would be too expensive: scientists estimate the total budget to one billion dollars.

Who will replace him?

end international space station by the end of the decade it will be in relief.

By that time, three private stations, which POT funding should already be in orbit to start accepting people.

Blue Origin and Sierra Space team up to develop orbital reef, a commercial space station that will be built in low Earth orbit and will begin operation in the second half of this decade. It is expected that there will be a mixed infrastructure for all activities.

Nanoracks is working on the station with Voyager Space and Lockheed Martin. star labwhich will accommodate four astronauts: it will have a biological laboratory, an engine room laboratory, a physical sciences and materials research laboratory, and an open work area to meet the needs of researchers and clients involved in commercial space activities.

The third one, and the one with fewer parts, belongs to Northrop Grumman. What we do know is that it will have multiple docking ports, allowing it to be expanded in the future to support analog crew accommodations, labs, crew locks, and artificial gravity facilities to support multiple clients.

POT outsources most of its space mission: it no longer builds its own ships (with the exception of the SLS and Orion), but pays third parties like SpaceX or Roscosmos itself to get their astronauts into space. With private stations, it will be possible to avoid additional costs for maintenance and more, but they will only pay for accommodation and similar payments to the companies that operate these facilities.

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