$843 million is given to Elon Musk's SpaceX to assist in the ISS's eventual disposal in 2030

Washington: NASA stated on Wednesday that it has given SpaceX $843 million to develop a vehicle that can propel the International Space Station into Earth's atmosphere in preparation for its scheduled decommissioning in 2030. Originally, NASA had intended to use Russian thrusters for this operation.

In order to deorbit the International Space Station and minimize threats to inhabited regions, SpaceX will construct what the space agency named the US Deorbit Vehicle under a new contract with NASA. Nasa will then take ownership of the vessel and manage the deorbiting process.

Over its almost 24 years of operation, the research lab the size of a football field, headed mostly by the US and Russia, has been continually occupied by government astronauts. However, due to aging components, NASA and its international partners have decided to retire the facility by 2030.

In 1998, the ISS's first section was launched. ISS is by far the biggest single structure ever constructed in orbit, weighing in at 430,000 kg. NASA experts anticipate that the orbiting outpost will disintegrate in three phases, based on previous studies of how other stations, including Mir and Skylab, broke apart on atmospheric re-entry. Modules will separate from the truss, or the main structure of the station, in two stages: first, the giant solar arrays and the radiators that cool the orbiting lab will fall off. Ultimately, the modules and the truss will break apart. Although a significant portion of the material will evaporate, some is anticipated to persist. Because of this, NASA is aiming for Point Nemo in the Pacific Ocean, which is regarded as the spacecraft and satellite cemetery and one of the world's most distant locations.

While Russia has promised to be a partner until 2028—the period during which the Russian space agency Roscosmos estimates its hardware can last—the US, Japan, Canada, and the nations under the European Space Agency have committed to the space station collaboration through 2030. US solar panels power the International Space Station (ISS) while Russian engines maintain its orbital height.

In order to sustain US presence in the cosmic area beyond 2030, NASA has been sponsoring the early construction of privately constructed space stations in low-Earth orbit. Airbus and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are collaborating in these efforts.