Elon Musk Advocates for Early Deorbit of the International Space Station

Musk's Bold Proposal

New Delhi: On Friday, Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, reiterated his recommendation to deorbit the International Space Station (ISS) within the next two years, significantly ahead of NASA's scheduled deorbit in 2031.

NASA's current plan involves deorbiting the ISS in 2031, with the necessary vehicle expected to be operational by 2028.

The ISS, a collaborative effort among NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Roscosmos, has been in operation since 1998.

Since November 2000, it has continuously hosted crews of astronauts, facilitating research aimed at future deep-space missions.

Musk expressed serious concerns regarding the safety of the ISS and its crew members.

He stated, "There are potentially serious concerns about the long-term safety of the Space Station. Some parts of it are simply getting too old, and obviously, that risk grows over time," in a post on the social media platform X.

Despite SpaceX's substantial earnings from transporting astronauts and cargo to the ISS, Musk emphasized his stance on deorbiting it within two years.

This statement was made in response to physicist Casey Handmer, a former software system architect at NASA JPL, who pointed out "multiple, and increasingly frequent, leaks" occurring on the ISS.

Handmer noted, "The ISS's structural integrity is far more marginal than is being publicly discussed. Multiple cracks have been discovered. There is no 'factor of safety' associated with this failure mode. None of the structural pressure vessels are meant to crack. We are not even single fault tolerant on the structural integrity of the station. We could wake up tomorrow and find, with zero warning, that it has failed catastrophically."

He further explained the potential consequences of a leak, stating, "Whether that means a leak slow enough to close some hatches, get the crew out or at least into safer parts of the station, is a roll of the dice. It could also depressurize in less than a minute."

In June 2024, NASA awarded SpaceX an $843 million contract to develop the US Deorbit Vehicle (USDV).

This vehicle, based on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, will dock with the ISS and facilitate a controlled deorbit over the South Pacific to minimize risks.

Musk has consistently advocated for Mars as the next frontier for human space exploration.

In a post on X in February, he remarked that the ISS "has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility." He concluded with a call to action: "Let’s go to Mars."