NASA has awarded SpaceX an $843 million contract to build the vehicle that will bring the International Space Station out of its longtime orbit of Earth when its operating lifespan ends in a few more years.
This photo provided by NASA shows the International Space Station from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony modules space-facing port, Nov. 8, 2021. NASA has awarded an $843 million contract to SpaceX to build the vehicle that will bring the International Space Station out of its longtime orbit around Earth when its operating lifespan ends in a few more years.
SpaceX, a privately held company controlled by technology mogul Elon Musk, will build the vehicle that will bring down the space station, but NASA will still oversee the eventual mission.The International Space Station, launched in 1998, is expected to be needed to be brought out of orbit by 2030. The station is operated by space agencies from the U.S., Europe, Japan, Canada and Russia.
“The orbital laboratory remains a blueprint for science, exploration, and partnerships in space for the benefit of all,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA's associate administrator for space operations mission directorate. The contract is another vote of confidence in the technological prowess of SpaceX, a rocket maker based in Hawthorne, California, that Musk founded in 2002 to explore new frontiers in space. Musk, 52, then became the driving force behind in Tesla, the electric car maker that accounts for most of his estimated fortune of $220 billion.
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