NASA has just commissioned Elon Musk's SpaceX to help deorbit the International Space Station as the space agency prepares to retire the massive space laboratory by 2030.
On Wednesday, NASA awarded SpaceX a potential $843 million contract to build and develop the vehicle deorbiting the ISS back to the Earth's atmosphere.
NASA claimed the partnership would help ensure a "safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit" as the space station burns up during its final voyage.
The ISS, which has been operational since 2000, is planned to crash into an isolated area in the Pacific Ocean.
The space agency has earlier estimated that retiring the ISS could cost well over $1 billion as scientists work together to "ensure avoidance of risk to populated areas."
Extra caution is needed especially after reports of ISS parts surviving the re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and crashing into a residential area despite previous estimates that it would not.
NASA assured that the space agency's scientists and officials will still operate and develop the vehicle throughout the mission.
Why Retire the ISS?
NASA has long planned to retire the aging space station as the agency finds more defects and failing parts in the space station it first launched in 1998.
While the ISS's operational life could possibly be prolonged, NASA does not intend to preserve or reuse the space station as it would already be economically "infeasible."
Maintaining the space station is already costing the partnered countries $4 billion every year. Preserving the ISS for any longer is expected to only further increase expenses.
NASA plans to preserve any parts of the ISS that can be salvaged after the crash for its "historical value," hosting thousands of space researchers from multi-nation partnerships.
NASA Opens Floodgates for Privately-Owned Space Stations
While NASA might be ending its space laboratory mission, space research is still expected to continue soon as the space agency opens its way for commercial and privately owned space stations.
So far, four US-based companies have already declared intentions to launch their own space laboratories as soon as they wrap up negotiations with NASA.
The European Space Agency, along with Airbus and Voyager Space, also pledged to help build the commercial space station Starlab posed to launch by 2027.
Only two space stations are currently operating within the Earth's orbit: the ISS and China's Tiangong Space Station.
