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After more than two decades of continuous human presence, the International Space Station (ISS) is set to reach the end of its operational life. Launched in 1998 and occupied nonstop since 2000, the ISS has served as a laboratory for thousands of experiments and hosted nearly 300 astronauts from 26 nations, exemplifying global cooperation in space. With a construction and operational cost exceeding $100 billion, it remains the most expensive human‑made object ever built, yet no level of investment can sustain it indefinitely. In the coming years, the ISS will return to Earth’s oceans.
Wear and tear has accumulated over the ISS’s 25‑year career. In the vacuum of space, the station experiences extreme temperature swings as it alternates between sunlight and shadow, which degrade its exterior. Frequent docking and undocking of supply vehicles, coupled with periodic orbital boosts to counter atmospheric drag, further erode the structure. In addition, the onboard technology has become obsolete compared with today’s rapid advances in space systems.
The five partner agencies that jointly operate the ISS—NASA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, and CSA—have agreed on a decommissioning schedule that culminates in 2030. However, the station cannot simply be left adrift; a controlled re‑entry is required to avoid posing a risk to populated areas.
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NASA and its partners evaluated several deorbit options. Leaving the ISS in a higher orbit was deemed too hazardous, as uncontrolled decay could scatter debris over the Earth. Disassembling the station in space and transporting the pieces back to Earth was prohibitively expensive and technically daunting. The chosen strategy is to initiate a single, controlled re‑entry that burns up most of the structure in the atmosphere. The surviving fragments will then be directed to Point Nemo in the South Pacific—an oceanic “graveyard” more than 1,500 miles from any landmass and a historic landing site for decommissioned satellites.
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The deorbit sequence unfolds in stages. After the final crew departs, the ISS will remain unoccupied for an additional year, allowing its orbit to naturally decay due to atmospheric drag. A dedicated deorbit vehicle—designed and built by SpaceX—will then rendezvous with the station, attach securely, and guide it toward its target over the South Pacific. The vehicle will impart a final thrust, lowering the ISS’s perigee into the upper atmosphere and triggering its controlled descent.
While the Soviet Mir station previously crashed into Point Nemo, the ISS’s deorbit will be unprecedented in scale. This mission underscores the growing role of commercial partners in space operations. NASA has announced that it will not construct a replacement station; instead, future orbital habitats will be operated by private companies. Meanwhile, nations such as China—operating the Tiangong Space Station since 2021—are expanding the constellation of international space habitats, signaling a shift toward multiple, distributed stations rather than a single central hub.
