With Only 5 Years Left In Space, The International Space Station Just Hit A New Milestone

With around five years left to go before it leaves Earth's orbit and is crashed into the ocean, NASA has announced that the International Space Station (ISS) has hit a new milestone.

The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

The ISS has been operational since the start of the millennium. Since November 2, 2000, humans have had a continuous presence in space, conducting experiments in microgravity aboard humanity's orbiting laboratory. But all good things must come to an end, and at the end of 2030, NASA and its international partners will retire the ISS for good, before crashing it into the Pacific Ocean in early 2031.

The first pieces of the ISS were launched in 1998, and by the time operations are over in 2030, these parts will have been in space for two years longer than their planned lifespan. It is these components, forming the structure of the space station, that mean the ISS is not safe to operate beyond 2030. 

All is set for a 2031 return to Earth, where it will sink to the bottom of the Pacific to the confusion of fish. But before that, the aging spacecraft has achieved a new first: all eight of its docking ports are currently occupied by spacecraft.

Attached to the spacecraft are two SpaceX Dragons (cargo and crew), Cygnus XL, JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) HTV-X1, two Roscosmos Soyuz crew spacecraft, and two Progress cargo ships. This is the first time in the space station's history that all eight docking ports have been occupied. The final spacecraft, the resupply ship Cygnus XL, was removed remotely last week by the robotics officer at the agency’s Mission Control Center in Houston, using a robotic arm attached to the ISS. Following its reattachment, the space station's ports are now fully occupied. 

They won't be for long, however, as normal operations continue ahead of the planned return to Earth in five years' time.

"Cygnus will remain attached to the orbiting laboratory until no earlier than March 2026, when it is scheduled to safely depart and dispose of up to 11,000 pounds of trash and unneeded cargo when it harmlessly burns up in Earth’s atmosphere," NASA explained in a statement.

"Meanwhile, the 10-person Expedition 73 crew filled its day with biology and physics research while preparing to split up early next week."

Meanwhile, three new crewmembers were added to the space station last Thursday, courtesy of the Soyuz MS-28. 

"NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev will stay in space until July 2026, conducting advanced space research benefiting humans living on and off Earth," NASA added. "Kud-Sverchkov and Mikaev have already begun studying how living in space affects the microcirculatory system in their hands, fingers, feet, and toes. Williams has been assisting his NASA crewmates with cargo activities."

When it is decommissioned, it will likely not be replaced like-for-like, with several commercial space stations set to launch into orbit, including Lunar Gateway, as NASA focuses on the upcming Artemis missions. 

One such commercial space station, supported by NASA, is Vast’s Haven-1. Currently expected to launch in May 2026, the space station is a little smaller than what current astronauts are used to. While the ISS has a volume of approximately 900 cubic meters (31,000 cubic feet), Haven-1 will have around 45 cubic meters (1,590 cubic feet).

NASA and its international partners continue to make the most of the aging space station, with crew members continuing to conduct research that can only take place in space.

Next week, the station will be back to seven members and become the Expedition 74 crew, when three members depart on the Soyuz spacecraft on December 8.