SpaceX tapped to steer International Space Station into ocean

NASA on Wednesday awarded SpaceX a $843 million contract to develop a vehicle capable of deorbiting the space station. The vehicle will be designed to guide the International Space Station through Earth’s atmosphere and intentionally crash it into the Pacific Ocean, according to NASA. SpaceX is contracted to deliver the vehicle by 2029.

Why is NASA going to crash the ISS? The federal agency intends to operate the ISS through 2030, more than 30 years after its launch. The first piece of the ISS launched in November 1998, and the first crew arrived in 2000. The Russian, Japanese, European, and Canadian space agencies are also involved in the space station’s operations, although Russia plans to leave the program by 2028. On Wednesday, it was unclear if the agencies would share the cost of deorbiting the station, though NASA said all five agencies would play a role in the process.

Dig deeper: Read Heather Frank’s report in Beginnings about why the United States is going back to the moon.