SpaceX to receive $843 million contract from NASA to destroy the International Space Station
International Space Station
NASA has announced to give SpaceX a $843 million contract to destroy the International Space Station (ISS) and land it safely back on Earth. The deorbit vehicle designed by SpaceX will be used to push ISS out of its orbit after 2030 when its operational life ends.
The football field-sized space station will crash into the ocean after travelling at a speed of over 17,000 mph (27,500 km/h) in Earth's atmosphere.
ISS was first launched in 1998 and has been operated by space agencies in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Russia, all of which are responsible for its safe deorbiting.
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"This decision also supports NASA's plans for future commercial destinations and allows for the continued use of space near Earth," Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA, said in a statement.
The space station has achieved more than 3,300 experiments while orbiting around our planet across various disciplines that could not be conducted on Earth. It has been a milestone in space exploration and a "blueprint for science" and "partnerships" that have proven to be advantageous for all, according to Bowersox.
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However, ISS is nearing its end of life by 2030 as some technical faults and leaks have been causing problems for the crew and agencies working on it. After the end of the Cold War, ISS laid the path for a global collaboration in space.
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The ISS is also facing some dangers from the space junk, the debris orbiting around the Earth at high speeds from other defunct satellites. The nine crew members on board were forced to take cover in the docked Boeing Starliner crew capsule for about an hour when hundreds of pieces of a wrecked Russian satellite risked their safety at the space station on June 27.
The exact date when ISS will be brought back to Earth is not confirmed by NASA yet. However, the operation is to continue till 2030.
(With inputs from agencies)
