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NASA Official: Deorbiting ISS Requires Cooperation of All Partners
1 Aug
Summary
- Deorbiting the ISS requires collaboration of all partners, especially Russia and US
- NASA plans to use Russian elements and US deorbiting vehicle for redundancy
- ISS deorbiting fuel reserves expected to reach desired level by early 2028
According to a senior NASA official, the deorbiting of the International Space Station (ISS) will require a collaborative effort from all the partners involved, especially Russia and the United States. The space station was designed to be operated jointly, and its safe deorbiting to the ocean will depend on the cooperation of all the participating nations.
NASA's Deputy Administrator, Kenneth Bowersox, stated that the space station team is working together to develop a final plan that utilizes both Russian and American elements to reduce the risk for the people involved in the deorbiting process. NASA's ISS Manager, Dana Weigel, further elaborated that the current plan is for the Russian segment to handle attitude control, while the US deorbiting vehicle will provide the necessary thrust, creating additional layers of redundancy.
Weigel also revealed that Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, is currently working on fuel delivery to ensure that the fuel reserves required for ISS deorbiting reach the desired level by early 2028. The plan is to start the deorbiting process in mid-2028, with the US deorbiting vehicle arriving in mid-2029 to assist in the final stages.
The International Space Station has been in orbit since 1998 and is a collaborative project involving Russia, Canada, the United States, Japan, and ten member-states of the European Space Agency.
