Private US firm SpaceX has been selected to build the spacecraft that will guide the International Space Station to safely deorbit and crash into Earth.
The U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, as it's known, will help the Space Station deorbit safely and avoid any risk to populated areas.
The contract is potentially worth $843 million, that figure not including the actual launch of the Deorbit Vehicle.
Why deorbit the International Space Station?
On 20 November 1998, the International Space Station's first segment was launched, beginning a new era of the Space Age.
A symbol of international collaboration, the orbiting science laboratory has enabled research into the effects of long-term spaceflight, growing and eating food in space and the development of technology required for astronauts to work for long periods in weightlessness.
Since its initial launch, 15 further modules have been added to the ISS, and it has continuously been occupied since 2000, amounting to 25 years of uninterrupted human presence in Earth orbit.
Recently, it has begun to be serviced by private US space companies like SpaceX and Boeing: a sign of the ever-emerging private 'space race'.
The Space Station can't last forever, and is showing signs of its age.
NASA and other space agencies like Russia's Roscosmos are looking towards towards future commercially-owned stations.
Five space agencies, the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA and Roscosmos all collaboratively operate the International Space Station.
The US, Japan, Canada and ESA have committed to operating the ISS until 2030, with Russia agreeing to operations until at least 2028.
About the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle
"Selecting a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations," says Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
"The orbital laboratory remains a blueprint for science, exploration and partnerships in space for the benefit of all.”
SpaceX will develop the Deorbit Vehicle, but NASA has said it will take ownership of the spacecraft and operate it throughout the deorbiting of the International Space Station.
The Deorbit Vehicle itself will also be purposely deorbited and destroyed upon reentry.
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