Pop Science
SPACE
The ISS will plunge into the sea in 2031
The end of an era is coming.
The orbiting laboratory, which launched in 1998, will splash-land 2,700km from land at Point Nemo, the final Pacific Ocean resting place for many dead satellites and space stations, such as Russia’s Mir. The new expiration date for the ISS is due to a Biden administration commitment to extend support for the space station’s operations through 2030, which NASA announced in late December. In January 2022 the space agency announced a new transition plan for low-Earth orbit science. In the lead-up to the decommissioning of the ISS, NASA has signed agreements with three private companies to launch commercial space stations for use
