SpaceX Is Building A Superpowered Spaceship
In June, NASA revealed its plan to allocate up to $843 million to Elon Musk’s SpaceX for the task of decommissioning the International Space Station (ISS).
On Wednesday, NASA and SpaceX provided further insights into their strategy, which involves creating a supercharged, extra-large version of the Dragon spacecraft. This powerful craft will be designed to push the ISS out of orbit, leading to its dramatic descent into a remote ocean, likely around 2031.
Currently, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft are used to transport NASA astronauts and supplies to and from the ISS. However, compared to the ISS, which weighs approximately 925,000 pounds, the astronauts and cargo are relatively lightweight.
This significant weight difference is why SpaceX plans to enhance one of its Dragon spacecraft, making it capable of handling the substantial task of safely decommissioning the ISS.
- NASA and SpaceX unveiled more details about how they plan to deorbit the ISS in the early 2030s.
- SpaceX aims to use one of its existing Dragon spaceships to push the ISS toward its grave.
- But not just any Dragon spacecraft will do. SpaceX has to supercharge it first.
The International Space Station has served as a home and workplace for hundreds of astronauts over the past 23 years. However, its time in orbit is coming to an end.
How SpaceX plans to scrap the ISS
SpaceX plans to outfit an existing Cargo Dragon with a new high-powered trunk and supercharge it with 46 Draco engines, which is 30 more engines than a regular Dragon.
The resulting “deorbit vehicle” will be about twice as long as a regular Dragon ship, with six times as much propellant to produce four times the power.
SpaceX posted on X an illustration of what its upgraded Dragon may look like:
SpaceX’s director of Dragon mission management, Sarah Walker, said the most complex part of the mission will be the final burn that pushes the ISS on course toward its final descent.
“This burn must be powerful enough to fly the entire space station, all the while resisting the torques and forces caused by increasing atmospheric drag on the space station to ensure that it ultimately terminates in the intended location,” Walker said in a briefing on Wednesday.
The ISS’s final destination will be in a remote part of the ocean, such as the South Pacific, but NASA has not chosen a precise location yet. When the football field-sized spacecraft comes screaming down, NASA wants no risk of it hitting anywhere but the open ocean.
A New Chapter in Space Exploration
Walker expressed that contributing to the conclusion of this significant chapter in space exploration is a true honor.
“It’s an incredible full-circle moment for both myself and SpaceX,” Walker stated during a briefing on Wednesday.
In 2012, Dragon made history as the first commercial vehicle to dock with the ISS, and if all goes according to plan, it will also be the final vehicle to ever dock with the station.
“I cannot emphasize enough how honored we feel to be part of this milestone,” Walker said.
NASA had considered using three Russian Progress spacecraft to handle the task, but even that wasn’t sufficient given the size of the space station, according to Dana Weigel, the manager of NASA’s ISS program.
NASA and its Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, plan to keep the ISS operational until 2030. At that point, both agencies aim to move on to their own new space stations. NASA hopes to be just one of many customers utilizing private space stations in the future.