NASA announced Wednesday that it has chosen SpaceX to build a spacecraft that will leave orbit around the International Space Station in 2030. The deal is worth up to $843 million.
The International Space Station (ISS) is almost done with its useful life. As plans for new space stations owned by businesses heat up, the first one will have to be safely thrown away at the end of the decade.
NASA calls the craft the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, but not much else is known about it yet. NASA made it clear, though, that the vehicle will be different from SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, which brings supplies and people to the station, as well as other vehicles that the agency uses for work. These vehicles are made and run by SpaceX, but NASA will own the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle after it is built and run it for the duration of its mission.
As they reenter the atmosphere, both the craft and the ISS will break up in destructive ways. One of SpaceX’s biggest challenges will be to make sure that the station reenters in a way that doesn’t put people in danger.
The U.S. Deorbit Vehicle launch deal will be made public at a later date.
NASA and its partners were thinking about using a Russian Roscosmos Progress spacecraft for the de-orbit mission, but studies showed that the move would need a new spacecraft. The five space agencies that work on the ISS—NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and State Space Corporation Roscosmos—are all responsible for making sure the station ends safely. However, it is not clear if all five countries are paying this contract amount.
Also Read: Spacex Plans to Launch the Huge Starship for the Third Time Early Thursday Morning
NASA has asked for more information, and we’ll make changes to this post if we hear back.
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