SpaceX Wins $843-Million NASA Contract to Destroy the International Space Station

The floating laboratory’s first parts were launched in 1998, and it has been occupied by astronauts from the U.S., Japan, Russia, Canada and Europe since 2000, who have completed more than 3,300 scientific experiments in a close orbit above Earth. But the space station is showing its age: technical faults and leaks continue to cause issues for crews, and the contracts between the five participating national space agencies, which marked an era of global cooperation in space following the end of the Cold War, will end by 2030.

ISS Deorbiting Mission

Growing problem of space junk

The ISS also faces risks from the growing problem of space junk – orbital debris made of other defunct satellites, whipping around Earth at high speeds. On June 27, nine astronauts aboard the ISS were forced to take shelter in the docked Boeing Starliner crew capsule after hundreds of pieces of debris from a shattered Russian satellite threatened the space station’s safety. The crew were allowed to return to the ISS after about an hour, and operations continued as normal. But it’s still unclear exactly when the space station will be brought crashing back to Earth. These include Axiom Space’s Axiom Station, and the Orbital Reef designed by Blue Origin and Sierra Space. Both stations are slated to come online by the end of this decade.