The International Space Station will be decommissioned in 2030 and plunged into the Pacific Ocean, and NASA will launch a commercial operation platform

According to the Russian Satellite News Agency reported on the 3rd, the International Space Station (ISS) project, which has been cooperating with other international space agencies since 2000, will be decommissioned at the end of 2030, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to crash it into the South Pacific after the international space station is decommissioned, and will let the commercially operated space station replace it.

International Space Station (photo provided by Russian Satellite News Agency)

In January, NASA unveiled a transition plan detailing the is that the International Space Station will crash into the South Pacific, targeting Nemo Point, the most remote location on Earth's surface from land. The plan estimates that the International Space Station will sink along with other space debris into the "Ocean Cemetery," where countries such as Russia, Japan and the United States have dropped 263 pieces of space debris since 1971.

The International Space Station is a multinational project that unites five parties, including Russia, Japan, Canada and the European Union, as well as the development and scientific achievements of other international organizations in the field of space, and has involved more than 200 astronauts from 19 different countries. NASA said the U.S.-led commercial operations platform would replace the International Space Station.

In early December 2021, NASA signed an agreement with three U.S. commercial space companies to "build a robust, U.S.-led commercial economic program in low-Earth orbit," NASA said.

The agreements, valued at $415.6 million, include Blue Origin Commercial Space, based in Kent, Washington, Nanoacks Hardware Services in Houston, Texas, and Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation in Dulles, Virginia.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, "As commercial companies provide transportation services to low-Earth orbit, we are working with U.S. companies to develop space destinations where people can access, live and work, so that NASA can continue to carve a space path for humanity while promoting commercial space activities." ”

The ISS has assisted researchers in many achievements, such as publishing more than 700 scientific papers on physiology and nutrition, anti-cancer drugs, climate change, understanding of dark matter, DNA sequencing, and teaching services to more than 43 million students from 49 countries.

However, despite the help provided by the International Space Station in scientific experiments, the technical life of the space station is limited even with the maintenance assistance of the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Before decommissioning, the International Space Station had nearly a decade to go. Robyn Gatens, director of the International Space Station at NASA headquarters, said in a statement that "the ISS is entering its third and most productive decade as a groundbreaking scientific platform in the field of microgravity... Validate exploration and human research techniques to support deep space exploration, continue to reward humanity with medical and environmental benefits, and lay the foundation for a commercial future in low-Earth orbit. ”

He added, "We look forward to getting the biggest return from the space station by 2030, while planning a subsequent transition to establishing a commercial space destination." (Edit: SDY)