'Little benefit': Elon Musk calls for International Space Station to be deorbited
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has called for the International Space Station (ISS) to be deorbited as soon as possible - possibly as early as 2027.
February 24, 2025 06:35
The ISS is scheduled to be deorbited in 2030.
On his social network X, Musk announced that it was time to begin deorbiting the ISS. He said that the station had already fulfilled its mission and was of little use, adding that it was time to prepare for Mars.
Later, the billionaire, who also heads the DOGE organization, which aims to increase the efficiency of the US government, announced that he recommends deorbiting the ISS within the next two years.
The ISS is aging, so it was planned to be deorbited in 2030.
SpaceX received a nearly billion-dollar contract to carry out the mission in 2024. However, if US President Donald Trump accepts Musk's new proposal, the company will have to start work quickly.
According to the original plan, the deorbiter was supposed to be ready by 2029.
Troubled times for NASA
Musk's statement comes at a time when NASA is going through a turbulent period.
The agency is facing budget problems, job cuts are underway, and the possibility of SpaceX customer billionaire Jared Isaacman becoming its administrator is adding to the uncertainty.
Therefore, the idea of abandoning such an important program as the ISS is not favorable to the agency.
NASA's international partners, such as the European Space Agency (ESA), expect the ISS to remain in orbit until at least 2030, or even longer. Russia is committed to keeping the station operational until 2028.
Furthermore, an earlier decommissioning of the ISS would have commercial consequences.
Several private companies plan to build stations in low Earth orbit, but even by the most optimistic estimates, an autonomous station would not be ready until 2028. Unless SpaceX manages to launch several Starship vehicles into orbit and thus at least partially compensate for the functionality of the ISS.
Musk's statements alone will not be enough
The ISS has currently reached its maximum utilization phase.
The station is typically staffed by at least seven crew members at any one time, with crew rotations using three-person Soyuz and four-person Crew Dragon spacecraft. This allows for both maintenance and scientific research. Abandoning it earlier than planned would be a waste of potential.
At first glance, it seems that Musk's ambition to reach Mars is his main motivation.
His company, SpaceX, already has lucrative contracts to supply crew and cargo to the ISS. An earlier shutdown of the station would mean the loss of those contracts, but would also free up resources to fund a human mission to Mars.
However, ESA's statement that the fate of the ISS is a matter for all international partners to agree on, and the need to obtain approval from US lawmakers, shows that a single post on a social media platform is not enough to make it official policy.
