SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Thursday said that preparations must start already for deorbiting the International Space Station (ISS), ahead of the timeline decided by space agency NASA.
What Happened: “It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility,” Musk said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Let’s go to Mars,” the billionaire said, calling for a human-operated base on Mars instead of the low Earth orbit.
“The decision is up to the President, but my recommendation is as soon as possible,” Musk said while also recommending that the station be deorbited two years from now, or in 2027.
Current Plans For ISS: The ISS is operated by space agencies from the U.S., Europe, Japan, Canada, and Russia. All countries except Russia have committed to operating the station until 2030. The station has spent about 25 years in orbit and over 270 astronauts have visited it to date.
NASA chose SpaceX to develop and deliver the U.S. Deorbit vehicle (USDV) to deorbit the space station and ensure a lack of risk to populated areas in late June. SpaceX will develop the deorbit spacecraft under the contract valued at $843 million and NASA will take ownership afterward and operate it through the mission.
The space agency previously said that the deorbit spacecraft would move the station out of orbit and into a remote area of an ocean at the end of its operations around 2030.
Both the spacecraft and the station are expected to break up through the process of re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Any remnants will subsequently fall harmlessly into the ocean as part of the plan.
Musk’s Mars Vision: Musk has often talked about landing humans on the surface of Earth’s neighboring planet Mars. SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle, with which he intends to accomplish the dream, is in the testing and development phase.
Musk last year said that the first Starships will head to Mars in two years once the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens.
The first launches to Mars in 2026, Musk then said, will not have a crew onboard and will be aimed at testing the flight’s ability to land intact on Mars.
“If those landings go well, then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in 4 years,” Musk wrote, pegging the first crewed Starship flights to the neighboring planet for 2028.
According to the billionaire, humans stand a risk of extinction on Earth due to risks like nuclear war or natural annihilation.
"Having two planets means that all our eggs are not in one basket. From there, we can extend to other star systems," Musk said earlier this week.
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