New challenge for SpaceX, the company owned by billionaire Elon Musk. NASA, the all-powerful American space agency, has assigned it the daunting task of building the space vehicle to deorbit the International Space Station (ISS) for its destruction when it reaches the end of its service life.
SpaceX will have time until 2030 to develop the vehicle and deliver it to NASA, which is the period during which the United States, European Union, Japan and Canada space agencies have committed to keep the ISS operational. Russia, on the other hand, only guaranteed its participation until 2028.
“The International Space Station is the largest structure created by humans outside of Earth, which serves as a research lab in microgravity”
The American agency will be the one responsible for operating that vehicle and the missions to destroy the station upon re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere. According to NASA’s press release, it must have the “capability to deorbit the space station and ensure avoidance of risk to populated areas”.
This new contract, with a cost of 795 million euros, is a new boon for SpaceX. In record time, it has become an essential provider in sending personnel and material to the International Space Station with its Dragon capsule, as well as the most efficient operator when it comes to missions in the atmosphere close to Earth.
The International Space Station is the largest structure created by humans outside of Earth, which serves as a research lab in microgravity and has been permanently inhabited for over 20 years, at a distance of 400 kilometres from our planet.
The United States considers that replacing this station is a must to compete with the new space station that China is already building in Low Earth Orbit.
