The International Space Station, or ISS, will celebrate its 20 years of existence at the end of the year. Permanently occupied by an international crew made up of Americans, Japanese, Canadians or Europeans, she has recently seen Thomas Pesquet go there to perform various missions for CNES or NASA. However, although it is still under construction (the Russian laboratory Nauka is expected in particular in the coming months), the ISS already sees some of its manufacturing countries ask the question of its future.
An estate to take into account
This is particularly the case of the United States, which knows that one day or another it will be necessary to provide controlled de-orbiting of the space station piloted and managed largely by NASA. And the current thinking in the White House is to grant, in the future, the management of the ISS by private external companies. According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump's administration would require about $ 150 million to " enable the development and maturation of business entities and capabilities that will ensure that private successors who take over from the ISS - possibly including elements of the ISS - will be ready when it is necessary to call on them ".
This is not really a surprise since in 2015 already, William Gerstenmaie, assistant administrator of the inhabited space exploration program then in office for Barack Obama explained that it was necessary to focus on other programs. The goal, as you will have understood, is to facilitate the mutation of the management of the ISS that could be entrusted, in the future, to companies and companies as it is already the case for SpaceX or Bigalow Aerospace ( the first is in charge of refueling and the second has even grafted its own module).
"The decision to terminate direct federal support for the ISS in 2025 does not mean that the platform itself will be disqualified at that time - it is possible that the industry may continue to exploit certain elements or capabilities of the ISS as part of a future commercial platform, "explains an internal NASA document.
Still a way to go
The United States, however, can not decide alone to entrust the management of the space station to companies. As part of a legal agreement signed in 1998 by all parties, it is stipulated that no nation can take unilateral decisions. Nevertheless, if Donald Trump decided to leave the ISS he would have the right, because the agreement allows members to withdraw. To change the management of the space station on the other hand, we must find a consensus among all current members.
But in the short and even medium term, the idea of allowing companies to join the program seems unlikely. As a reminder, the ISS already has two extensions of its operating contract to go until 2024, at least. In the meantime, it is quite possible that new missions, by the United States, will be put in place with the agreement of NASA. It will be necessary to be patient again.