SpaceX won a $843 million NASA contract
NASA has awarded SpaceX an $843 million contract to build a vehicle to take the International Space Station out of Earth’s long-term orbit when its operational life ends in a few years.
SpaceXA private company controlled by tech mogul Elon Musk will build the vehicle to bring the space station down, but NASA will still oversee the final mission.
The International Space Station, launched in 1998, is expected to need to be deorbited by 2030. It is operated by space agencies from the United States, Europe, Japan, Canada and Russia. All involved countries have committed to operating the station until 2030 except Russia, which has only committed to participating until 2028.
The crew of astronauts were occupied the space station since 2000.
“The Orbiting Laboratory remains a blueprint for science, exploration, and collaboration in space for the benefit of the planet,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA deputy administrator for the space operations mission directorate. benefit of everyone”.
The contract is another vote of confidence in the technological prowess of SpaceX, the rocket manufacturer based in Hawthorne, California, which Musk founded in 2002 to explore new frontiers in space. Musk, 52, later became the driving force behind Tesla, the electric car maker that accounts for most of his estimated $220 billion fortune.
