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NASA announces that the life of the International Space Station (ISS) is again extended until 2030. An announcement that must first be validated by the budget vote by Congress, but which is now already important for space science research.
Launched in 1998, the International Space Station, which is now 20 years old, is a strategic tool that has made it possible to achieve enormous advances in various technological sectors.
ISS operations are therefore still playing extensions to the delight of NASA researchers. Today weighing 419 tons and 100 meters in length with a living space equivalent to a Boeing 747, the station was initially scheduled to cease operations in 2016, but it continues again and again under the administration of Joe Biden who has decided to extend its lifespan until 2030.
A total of sixteen countries participate in the ISS, including Russia, Japan, several European countries and Canada. A crew of six astronauts permanently occupy the structure with rotations of up to six months.
An important geopolitical announcement
In this laboratory dedicated to research, the largest ever to be put into orbit, the instruments aboard the ISS have notably made it possible to achieve enormous advances in various technological sectors, the environment with studies on climate change, health or education.
« Space has always been very high on political agendas, even in France. In the United States, this is handled at the level of the vice-presidency. So this is an announcement from the White House, it still has to be accepted by Congress when the budget is presented, explains Nathalie Tinjod, in charge of international relations and head of the history project at the European Space Agency. This is something that is announced, but not yet funded. This is a first announcement. »
This announcement is important on the geopolitical level because the ISS is still the biggest international partnership in terms of space cooperation, therefore with the Americans, the Russians, the Canadians, the Japanese and the Europeans.
« It is all the same a big partnership which is preserved if one thinks of the fact that there is Russia in this partnership, which is preserved from the regimes of sanction or mistrust with regard to the activities on Earth. It is not easy to make the Russians and the Americans work together. It is also a message that the Station remains a tool of space diplomacy, an area that is preserved. »
The health of the resort
In operation for more than twenty years, theISS is now aging. As proof, the machine, as large as a football field, has experienced regular damage for several years, including a few leaks.
« Thomas Pesquet, when he came back down from the Station not too long ago, the capsule made a tour of the Station and Thomas took pictures which, for the moment, were technical pictures, to verify that everything was fine, that the Station had not been too damaged by meteorites or by wear and tear. He also changed the solar panels during his extra vehicular outings. So we finally keep improving it », Specifies Nathalie Tinjod.
An arm, the European robotic arm, and a new Russian node have also been added to the ISS. So the station is a bit like a lego that keeps going up, and there will be some requalifications to be made to be sure that it can last until 2030.
« But normally if the Americans announce it, it is because they are confident enough that it can be done in complete safety. And then, it also means that the Station, there were questions from this point of view, remains a major element of the Americans’ transition plan. This means that while waiting for its commercial stations to be ready, we continue with the Space Station to ensure an interrupted vacancy of space by humans. »
►To listen: Thomas Pesquet’s logbook: a new module for the ISS
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