NASA to retire International Space Station

NASA has set a 2031 target date to de-orbit the International Space Station (ISS), which was historically established in Oct. 2000 in partnership with Russia after the two countries agreed to merge their separate space stations in 1993.

The International Space Station is the largest structure to be built in space so far. NASA scientists have to prepare for its de-orbit far in advance since its large size poses a threat to Earth. Scientists said not all of the ISS would burn up once it entered the Earth's atmosphere and officials have to prepare for the remaining debris landing, which they hope drops in the southern Pacific Ocean.



"It's as big as a football stadium," NASA administrator Bill Nelson told Fox News. "We need to be able to very precisely put them in the graveyard in the southern Pacific Ocean." The ISS will remain in orbit until 2030, but by 2031 it will be gone. NASA also said the agency can't rely on Russia for help in its de-orbit.

"This far in advance, 5 or 6 years in advance, we are developing the de-orbit vehicle. You never can tell with the things that President Putin is up to. What is going to be our relationship? Could we continue to rely on our partners on the space station to help get it down? So we're not taking any chances," said Nelson. NASA has created new partnerships with commercial companies from both the US and allies across the world, said Jeffrey Manber, President of International and Space Stations at Voyager Space.

"There are limitations to being on a space station that's operated by multiple governments," said Manber. "When you're commercial, you don't have to be political like we had to be in inviting the Russians in 30 years ago." Voyager alongside its international partners plans to launch the Starlab into lower orbit. It will be an international base and will include companies from around the world, as per Fox News.

"We have the Europeans being represented by Airbus, the Japanese are represented by Mitsubishi Corporation. We've just announced that MDA of Canada does the robotic arm," said Manber. "And of course, we have the support of NASA. So, it's very exciting the way we've put this together to be truly international."

NASA also believes the move to commercial partnerships will be better for national security. The only other structure that houses astronauts in orbit is China's space station. The United States prevented China from joining the ISS due to the CCP military's control over its space program.