Since November 2000, there have been people living and working on the International Space Station (ISS), in Earth’s low orbit. But in 2031, the space station will be brought back down to the ground NASA announced earlier this month.
The 5-bedroom, 2-bathroom ISS was originally scheduled to last for just 15 years. After the first sections were launched in 1998, newly-added sections, known as modules, were regularly fixed in as recent as last year. However, it is becoming harder for NASA to guarantee the safety of their residents in orbit beyond 2030. Maintenance of any residence is tricky enough, but when you are 227 nautical miles from the Earth’s surface any problems are magnified, with some starting to show already.
Space junk (debris which is caught in orbit around Earth) presents a serious threat to the ISS, with approximately 23,000 pieces of debris larger than a softball currently orbiting the Earth. If one of these collided with the ISS it could cause serious damage and endanger its crew. In 2021, Russia tested its anti-satellite missile on an unused satellite, worsening the problem. It forced the ISS astronauts, including two Russians, to take emergency shelter.
Safety isn’t the only reason for pulling the plug on the ISS, as it currently costs NASA around $3bn a year to run and maintain. The future of space stations now lies with the private sector, with NASA predicting it will be able to save $1.3bn by going private. These companies include SpaceX and Axiom Space, who have already been commissioned to build a space station module.
Decommissioning will be done in stages, with some current modules to be detached and left in orbit for use in future space stations. They will retain their orbit speed and so won’t end up crashing through the atmosphere, as the remaining parts of the ISS will. The final humans will leave the ISS in 2030 before boosters are then used to decrease the height of the orbit before it is guided to a rapid descent through the atmosphere by other space shuttles. As it comes through the atmosphere it will mostly burn up, leaving a few smaller pieces which will reach Point Nemo, the furthest point from land (the astronauts on the ISS are closer when they pass by than anyone else). It is often called a space graveyard, as many space vehicles have been brought down here – including the Russian Mir space station which was decommissioned in 2001.
Over its lifetime the ISS has been a flagship achievement for global collaboration, with Russia, Japan, Canada, the USA and 11 European countries playing their part. Having people in space permanently has allowed extensive research to be undertaken on a range of topics, from deep space to materials and even biomedicine. Despite these advances, global politics still plays an important role and collaboration may be difficult to negotiate. Dmitry Rogozin, leader of the Russian space programme, even suggested that American sanctions may bring about an end to Russia’s involvement with the ISS.
