The International Space Station (ISS) is one of the most amazing accomplishments of mankind. As of early November 2024, this space station has been home to humans for over 24 consecutive years, smashing all previous records.
Currently, the plan is to keep the space station in operation until 2030 and then have it brought down in 2031, ending its amazing career. According to a new report, however, there are a number of problems that need to be overcome in order to keep the station operational even until then.
In addition, many experts would love to see the station continue for years longer if possible.
One of the biggest issues is cracks and air leaks, as is said in the report:
“On-going cracks and air leaks in the Service Module Transfer Tunnel are a top safety risk; and NASA and Roscosmos are collaborating to investigate and mitigate the cracks and leaks, determine the root cause, and monitor the Station for new leaks. However, in April 2024 NASA identified an increase in the leak rate to its highest level to date.”
Roscosmos is the Russian space agency, which is another thing that brings up concern. Since the escalation of the Ukraine-Russia war, there is serious doubt as to what level of involvement Russia wants with the future of the space station.
Up to this point, the Russian Soyuz vessel was planned to be used to deorbit the station in 2031, but it is unclear if they will still want to participate in that project.
NASA has already awarded a contract to SpaceX to develop a deorbiting vehicle, which should be ready by 2031. There is still concerns in this area though, as is stated in the report:
“Without commitment from Russia to the current deorbit plan, the ability to conduct a controlled deorbit is unclear. In June 2024, NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX to develop the US deorbit vehicle to execute the controlled deorbit of the ISS in 2031. Nonetheless, the uncertainty of commercial LEO destination-readiness, limited budget availability, and the potential delay in availability of the US deorbit vehicle adds more schedule challenges and risks to NASA’s 2031 deorbit plan.”
All these problems make some in NASA and other agencies worry not just about extending the life of the space station beyond 2030, but even being able to keep it safe until that point.
The report summarizes this concern saying:
“While the ISS Program has sufficient plans and procedures in place to ensure crew safety in response to routine or emergency threats to Station operations, these plans continue to evolve. However, due to the high costs and a limited budget, the lack of ready-to-launch vehicles prevent the Agency from having an immediate response capability if crew vehicles encounter significant damage and are no longer safe for crew evacuation.”
It is hard to overstate the importance the ISS has had on research and space exploration in general. Hopefully it can at least meet the 2030 timeline, or possibly even beyond.
There are some private space companies that are looking to put up their own space station in the future, and they need time to make these goals a reality.
I can’t wait until there are many space stations in operation.
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