will pay SpaceX up to nearly $1 billion to develop a vehicle capable of steering the International Space Station out of orbit to its final resting place when the federal agency and its partners retire the orbiting laboratory in the coming years. The SpaceX-made vehicle could launch later this decade. It would latch onto the International Space Station — a nearly 1 million-pound structure roughly the size of a football field — and guide the craft as it plunges out of Earth’s orbit.
did not immediately respond to a request for comment. SpaceX also did not respond to a list of emailed questions regarding the contract. The company typically doesn’t respond to inquiries from news organizations. In prior documents, has stressed that the space station provides a crucial platform for its astronauts to conduct science experiments and carry out research for future missions deeper into the cosmos, but the laboratory is rapidly aging. The station, which is in orbit about 250 miles above Earth’s surface, has hosted rotating crews of astronauts continuously since 2000. “Selecting a U.S.
has long said that it plans to hand over operations in low-Earth orbit — the area of space closest to Earth where the space station currently operates — to the private sector. Commercial companies will be free to build their own orbiting laboratories, space hotels or other ventures. Meanwhile,