In October 2000, the Soyuz rocket made its first expedition to the International Space Station and thus began its permanent residence in the laboratory. Humans have been occupying space in space since time immemorial. NASA is now preparing for what humans will do in space with plans to de-orbit the International Space Station in 2031.
“We constantly have maintenance on the space station. We constantly send our astronauts out on spacewalks and they do just that,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Let’s not have a commercial station ready. Technically, we can maintain a space station, but the idea is to fly past 2030 and de-orbit in 2031.”
When the International Space Station de-orbits, it will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Most will burn, but some will survive the heat when re-entered.
“It’s as big as a football stadium,” Nelson said. “We should be able to place it precisely in the grave in the south Pacific Ocean.”
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NASA Administrator Bill Nelson appears in a photo of the International Space Station. (Getty Images)
It is the largest structure ever built in space. In the 1990s, Russia was involved in choosing where the ISS would orbit.
“This is far in advance, 5 or 6 years before, we developed a de-orbit vehicle. You can’t talk with President Putin until. What will become of our relationship? Can we continue to depend on our partners in the space station for help down?
NASA is currently working with commercial companies from the US and its allies around the world.
“There are limitations to being a space station operated by multiple governments,” said Voyager Space and International Space Station President Jeffrey Manber.
Voyager and its international partners plan to launch Starlab into lower orbit.
Astronaut experiments with exercise in microgravity
The company says it is more efficient and cost-effective than what the US and Russia agreed to in the 1990s.
“When you’re commercial, you don’t have to be political like we had to invite Russia 30 years ago,” Manber said.
Like the ISS, Voyager’s Starlab will still serve as an international base. The company cooperates with companies from all over the world.
A view of the International Space Station taken on March 30, 2022, by the crew of the Russian Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft after it was ejected from the Station. (Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP, File)
“We have the Europeans represented by Airbus, the Japanese represented by Mitsubishi Corporation. We just announced that MDA Canada is doing the robotic arm,” Manber said. “And of course we have the support of NASA. So it’s a really good way to bring this together internationally.”
NASA believes that the shift to commercial partnerships will also benefit national security.
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“You see the sudden separation of much of the free world from Russia as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s good that the part of the relationship between Russia and the United States that still works is the cooperation not only running and maintaining and launching astronauts and cosmonauts together, it’s a relationship a professional that keeps it going without a hitch,” Nelson said.
After several delays, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft lifted off from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for the Boeing Crew Flight Test at 10:52 a.m. on June 5, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Besides the ISS, the only other structure housing astronauts in orbit is China’s space station. Beijing is barred from the International Space Station, largely because of US concerns about China’s military control of its space program. Russia plans to launch an orbital service station in 2027. India also hopes to have its own station in the near future. The US believes that moving away from government control in space will benefit life on Earth.
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“When you circle the Earth every 90 minutes, you don’t see religious divisions on Earth. You don’t see racial divisions. You don’t see political divisions,” Nelson said. “What you see is our home, the planet. You see that we are all citizens of planet Earth. That is the unifying factor.”
