NASA to Decommission International Space Station with SpaceX Deorbit Vehicle

In 2030, the International Space Station (ISS) will undergo a safe and responsible transition from its current orbit to its final resting place in the Pacific Ocean. NASA has selected SpaceX to build the US Deorbit Vehicle, a spacecraft that will carry the ISS back into Earth’s atmosphere and deliver it to its final destination. The contract with SpaceX is worth approximately $843 million, and development and delivery of the spacecraft will be handled by Elon Musk’s aerospace manufacturing company.

NASA officials have stated that this selection ensures a safe and responsible transition for the ISS as it prepares for retirement. Once built, NASA will take ownership and control operations throughout the mission. The ISS, weighing 430,000 kilograms, is the largest single structure ever built in space. NASA engineers expect the orbital outpost to decompose in three stages upon atmospheric re-entry, with much of the material vaporizing but some larger chunks expected to survive.

The final resting place for the US Deorbit Vehicle in the Pacific Ocean is known as Point Nemo, one of the most remote parts of the world. This location is often used as a “graveyard” for satellites and spacecraft due to its isolation. Launched in 1998, the first segment of the ISS has been continuously inhabited by an international crew since 2001. The United States, Japan, Canada, and participating countries of the European Space Agency (ESA) have committed to operating the microgravity laboratory until 2030 while Russia has only committed until 2028. Commercial successors like Axiom Space and Blue Origin are currently working on replacing