NASA plans to deorbit the ISS sometime around 2030. Building something the size of the ISS in orbit is a huge undertaking and NASA keeps talking about wanting to build new space stations or a moon base, so why not leave the ISS in space and reuse it rather than literally throw the whole thing away?
In: Planetary Science
It’s in an incredibly isolated location responsible for keeping crew alive. If its isn’t 99.999% safe, It isn’t going to be used.
Despite being in space, it is under constant wear and tear. At the very least due to the sun; half the hull is expanding while the other half is compressing due to sunlight.
At some point it’s just cheaper(and safer) to send up a new, upgraded and known to be safe station, rather than constantly inspect and re-inspect, repair, and upgrade an older station… in space.
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