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
Originally, it was only planned to last 15 years. Its mission has already been extended multiple times, and if it continues operating until 2030 then it will have doubled its expected lifespan. But it won’t last forever – eventually it will need to be deorbited.
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