NASA plans to retire the International Space Station by crashing it into the ocean, according to a press release.
Over the last two decades, the International Space Station has traversed over 227 nautical miles above earth, but will end its journey after 2030.
NASA’s funding for the ISS ends in 2030, and the private sector will be taking over space station projects starting in 2031, and NASA aims to provide a smooth transition.
“The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations, with NASA’s assistance,” Phil McAlister, director of commercial space at NASA Headquarters said in the press release.
“We look forward to sharing our lessons learned and operations experience with the private sector to help them develop safe, reliable, and cost-effective destinations in space.”
According to CBS, NASA wants to utilize this route to support the federal program, and they expect several NASA crew members to be working on commercial space stations by the 2030s.
According to the released transition plan, the space station will be directed to an uninhabited part of the South Pacific Ocean, called Point Nemo, where it will come in January 2031, and the Russian spacecraft Progress will be required to pull it out of orbit.