Nasa has selected Elon Musk’s SpaceX company to bring down the International Space Station at the end of its life.
The California-based company will build a vehicle capable of pushing the 430-tonne orbiting platform into the Pacific Ocean early in the next decade.
A contract for the work, valued at up to $843m (£668m), was announced on Wednesday.
The first elements of the space station were launched in 1998, with continuous crewed operations beginning in 2000.
The station circles the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude just above 400km (250 miles) and has been home to thousands of scientific experiments, investigating all manner of phenomena from the aging process in humans to the formula for new types of materials.
Engineers say the laboratory remains structurally sound, but plans need to be put in place now for its eventual disposal. Without assistance, it would eventually fall back to Earth on its own, however this poses a significant risk to populations on the ground.
“Selecting a US De-orbit Vehicle for the International Space Station (ISS) will help Nasa and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations. This decision also supports Nasa’s plans for future commercial destinations and allows for the continued use of space near Earth,” Ken Bowersox, the agency’s director of space operations, said in a statement.
The US and Russia lead the ISS project. Europe, Canada and Japan play supporting roles. The western partners have all agreed to fund the station through 2030; Russia says its involvement will extend until at least 2028.
Nasa has studied various options for end-of-life disposal.
These include disassembling the station and using the younger elements in a next-generation platform. Another idea has been to simply to
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