The US space agency (NASA) announced on Wednesday that it has chosen SpaceX to build a vehicle capable of carrying the International Space Station into the Earth's atmosphere to destroy it after it is decommissioned in 2030.
The value of the contract the agency will sign with billionaire Elon Musk's company is $843 million, according to a NASA statement.
The U.S. agency previously announced its intention to push the International Space Station back into the Earth's atmosphere over an ocean after it is decommissioned. Some parts of the station will disintegrate during the operation, while others, more resistant, will end up in the ocean.
This process requires the manufacture of a powerful vehicle capable of propelling the station, which weighs about 430,000 kilograms.
NASA stated that the vehicle that SpaceX will create will help the station "exit orbit and avoid any danger to populated areas".
Like the International Space Station, this vehicle is designed to collapse upon returning to Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA.
Once the vehicle is built, it will belong to NASA, which will be responsible for operating it during the mission.
The United States, Japan, Canada and European countries have pledged to continue operating the International Space Station until 2030. As for Russia, it has pledged to complete missions on the station until 2028.
"The safe return of the International Space Station from orbit is the responsibility of the five space agencies," NASA wrote Wednesday.
Despite the war in Ukraine, the International Space Station remains one of the rare areas of cooperation between Washington and Moscow.
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