But the ISS’s days of state-sponsored glory may be coming to a close as NASA has made public that it plans to sell the station in the future.
According to TechCrunch, Bill Hill, NASA’s Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development, told the publication that the future of the ISS could lay in the hands of commercial entities.
“NASA’s trying to develop economic development in low-earth orbit,” Hill said. “Ultimately, our desire is to hand the space station over to either a commercial entity or some other commercial capability so that research can continue in low-earth orbit, so that research can continue in low-earth orbit.”
And though the quote might come a shock to many who’ve followed the ISS over the last 18 years, the station was on track to be de-orbited (that’s a polite way of saying incinerated) by 2024.
So it stands to reason that NASA could be making the most out of its investment by selling the ISS to the highest bidder. However, there are likely to be a few complications that tie up any potential sale.
First, it’s hard to imagine there will be a lot of interest from companies here on planet Earth. Maybe some of the upstart space mining firms would be willing to flash a little coin for a potential launch pad, but it’s more likely than not the ISS will go to the aerospace giant Boeing or SpaceX.
Why those two?
Both SpaceX and Boeing have been selected as the preferred providers of rocket rides to the ISS, meaning that they have a vested interest in the space station. What’s more, with several launches and docking sorties under their belts, they’d have the know-how to connect with the station to either resupply it or build it out.
But the biggest question that I’ve been noodling is whether or not Elon Musk and SpaceX view the ISS as a potential platform to assemble spacecraft for a future trip to Mars. For that matter, does Boeing view it in that same light as well?
The other major complication that would hold up the sale of the ISS is that it wasn’t just the US that built the thing. Russia, Canada, Japan and 11 EU states all had a hand in its construction. Selling a piece of invaluable real estate that has that many partners could lead to some difficult negotiations.
Still, it seems like NASA is making the right move. The ISS is becoming too expensive of a project to handle as former supporters like Russia have started to pull their backing. What’s more, the agency has other ambitions, like its trip to Mars, further explorations of gravitational waves and astrophysics research.
The ISS was always going to leave NASA’s control one of these days. The station would either burn up on reentry or as it appears now, gain a second life a commercial platform.
For more on NASA's current projects, check out NASA Asteroid-Capture Technology Passes Major Testt.