NASA has revealed what will happen to the International Space Station when it comes to the end of its life.
Launched in 2000, the ISS over the years has welcomed astronauts from 19 countries.
This week, NASA revealed its plan to retire the space station in 2031. The station’s deorbit will see the ISS fall to Earth in a remote area of the South Pacific. 3000 miles from New Zealand, over 260 decommissioned satellites have also faced a similar fate.
It is expected that a new era of private and commercial space stations will eventually replace it in the 2030s. In the meantime, the ISS will remain a “groundbreaking scientific platform in microgravity” for the next decade.
Russia plans to leave the ISS in 2025, and will build its own station in 2030. It was back in 2001 that the Russian Space Station Mir was officially retired. Built by the former Soviet Union in 1986, it was decommissioned following the launch of the ISS.
To-date, the International Space Station has cost more than $150 billion. 15 nations have contributed towards its upkeep since it was launched.
And the next decade is shaping up to be the most transformational era for space exploration yet.
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