NASA assigned SpaceX the task of landing ISS from space and will pay $843 million for it

According to NASA, the creation of a tug to deorbit the ISS has been entrusted to SpaceX. The company will receive $843 million for this task, not including the costs for preparing and launching the tug. However, this will not happen until commercial orbital stations are ready, which may be after 2030, Space.com reports.

Various statements suggest that Russia may cease support for the ISS as early as 2028. Therefore, the questions of station operation after this period, as well as responsibility for deorbiting and ocean disposal, will fall to NASA and its closest partners. It should be noted that it is not yet clear whether SpaceX will deorbit the entire station or only the American segment—there have been previous proposals to separate the station at the end of its service life and deorbit parts individually.

"The choice of an American deorbiting vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible deorbit from low Earth orbit at the end of the station's mission. This decision also supports NASA's plans for future commercial endeavors and allows continued use of low Earth orbit space," said Ken Bowersox of NASA, Deputy Administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington.

Preliminary deorbiting of the ISS is expected in 2030, but "nothing magical will happen," as the agency explained, if the station continues to operate after 2030. In fact, the ISS will be maintained until commercial orbital stations are ready, which may take some time. "We want [the commercial stations] to provide support, and then, when they are ready for launch, that is when the ISS will step aside," the agency explained.

Several commercial space stations are currently in various stages of development. For example, Axiom Space is developing its Axiom station, while Blue Origin is planning its own station known as Orbital Reef, in collaboration with Sierra Space, Boeing, and Amazon. Voyager Space also has its Starlab complex, developed with the help of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Additionally, the California-based company Vast Space plans to launch its Haven-1 module into orbit in 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.