SpaceX Basically crashing the International Space Station (ISS) into the sea. It is part of NASA’s program to safely de-orbit the ISS over the next ten years.
ISS has been It has been operating continuously since 1998 and aged like everything else. The orbital operation of the space station should end in 2030 or thereabouts. However, NASA doesn’t want everything to focus on the Earth’s atmosphere, dumping dangerous debris everywhere like the second season. A bad break. The agency wants a nice and controlled re-entry. That’s where SpaceX comes in.
Under the terms of the contract, SpaceX will develop a spacecraft called the US Deorbit Vehicle to safely return the ISS to Earth without any risk to population centers. SpaceX’s rocket will guide it toward the Pacific Ocean, where it might disturb a bunch of fish instead of humans.
The ISS doesn’t just go to any part of the Pacific Ocean. He goes to the eerie “spaceship graveyard”, an uninhabited area between New Zealand and South America, completely strewn with the remains of space objects. Because of all this, capsules, cargo ships, rockets, etc. are located in this part of the ocean. about 300 spaceships, including Many of these ships were actually used to get to the ISS, so it will be a homecoming of sorts.
The project will not be easy for SpaceX. The ISS weighs about a million pounds and is too big to burn up on re-entry. The company’s launch vehicle is expected to take several years to develop and test. The ISS will undergo a staged breakup, meaning the process should take place in three stages. The rocket will first direct the solar arrays and radiators into the sea, then the individual modules and finally the primary structure, commonly called a truss.
“The selection of the US Deorbit Vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition into low Earth orbit at the end of station operations,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.
The ISS is the largest structure ever built in space and is a joint effort between the United States, Europe, Japan, Canada and Russia. The US and its partners have pledged to continue operations until the end, but Russia’s commitment expires in 2028. The space station costs about $3.1 billion a year to operate. It is hoped that the private space industry will bridge the gap by building orbiting stations that astronauts can use on a pay-per-visit basis.
To this end, many private organizations have considered their own space stations. Vast and SpaceX and Blue Origin has one is set to launch towards the latter part of the decade. Voyager, Lockheed Martin, and Nanoracks don’t expect that at least until 2027.
