this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2024
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Looks like a $843 million contract to deorbit it sometime in 2030, and the deorbit vehicle is going to burn up as well. They could maybe just send up a starship without any tiles/flaps at that point? Hopefully some of these commercial LEO stations really get going before then to replace it...
It would need suitable engines for the deorbit burn. I'm not sure that the RCS thrusters would be powerful enough. The raptors are too powerful, even one at minimum throttle would probably rip the ISS apart.
According to a different article I was just reading, sounds like the 2030 isn't a hard date and it may be extended if commercial stations aren't ready to go:
Source: https://www.space.com/nasa-spacex-international-space-station-deorbit-vehicle
Part of why the commercial stations won't be ready is because the ISS won't commit to a deorbit date, so they can't predict the market!
2030 should be the absolute latest, or the leaks on the Russian side will take the whole thing down.
Or the mythical Dragon XL?