The United States has confirmed plans to stay on the International Space Station until at least 2030.
The announcement of the Biden-Harris government was awaited by scientists around the world, it is now official: the International Space Station will be able to continue its orbital journey at least until 2030. In an official statement released by NASA, the administrator Bill Nelson thus recalled the importance of the ISS for space research, arguing that it was “A beacon of peaceful international scientific collaboration for more than 20 years, and that it has made it possible to achieve enormous scientific, educational and technological progress for the benefit of Humanity”.
New respite for the ISS
With a end of life initially planned for 2016, the ISS therefore continues to chain missions. A few months ago, the station welcomed astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who became its very first French commander. With this new announcement from NASA, the flying giant, inaugurated in 1998, but inhabited from 2000, promises to still offer us some great discoveries.
However, this respite will be accompanied by a significant cost for NASA. With its two decades on the clock, the ISS must regularly face more or less important technical problems. Another major issue for the station is Russia’s geopolitical presence. While the country of Vladimir Putin is one of the sixteen countries that own the platform, the latter recently announced his wish to withdraw from the ISS. A departure which would allow it in particular to invest in its own space station, possibly in collaboration with China, which should be put into orbit from 2025. A decision which will have serious consequences for the international station, since the question now arises of the financing of the Russian part, which will have to find a buyer in order to avoid its abandonment. No need to worry, however, reassured Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the state space company Roscomos, who indicated that he wanted “Entrust the responsibility of our segment to the partners”, without further explanation for the moment.
