The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has decided to decommission the International Space Station (ISS) by 2031. The ISS would be safely crashed into Point Nemo, a point in the Pacific Ocean.
According to NASA, different private platforms operated commercially would be replacing the ISS.
The ISS has a long history that can never be forgotten. After being launched in 2000, it has been a host to 200 different astronauts from 19 different countries, orbiting a total distance of 227 nautical miles to date.
According to Phil McAlister, director of commercial space at NASA Headquarters, the private sector has become technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations.
He also said that NASA would provide all kinds of assistance and "share their learned experience" with these private players in their space research and exploration endeavors.
This last decade of the ISS is going to be a very important one. According to NASA, the ISS would be used as an "analog for a mars transit mission" in its last decade.
Robyn Gatens, director of the International Space Station at NASA Headquarters, said that the last decade of the ISS would be a decade of results, and also the most productive decade as a groundbreaking scientific platform in microgravity.
The ISS has been a host to a lot of scientific breakthroughs since its launch. The first 3D printed item in space was printed on the ISS. The Bose-Einstein condensate was first produced on the ISS, in NASA's cold atom lab. Various kinds of vegetation like lettuce, salads, etc were grown on the ISS, with ongoing plans to grow radishes and chilies.
Many nations across the world have already started building their own space stations to reduce or end their dependencies on the ISS. The Chinese Space Station would be ready by the end of this year.
The Russians are also planning to build their own space station, which would be ready by 2030.
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