How much longer will the ISS operate?

The space station has been continuously inhabited for more than two decades, and the United States, Japan, Canada and the participating ESA countries have committed to operating it until 2030, Russia until at least 2028; that is the current planning basis (as of May 2026). Technically, what most forces the end is age: modules, wiring and solar arrays remain in use beyond their intended lifespan, and every additional repair consumes working time that is then missing for research.

In the end, the ISS must not fall uncontrolled. In June 2024, NASA commissioned SpaceX to develop a deorbit vehicle; the contract has a total potential value of 843 million dollars. The vehicle will dock with the station, progressively lower its orbit, and steer the reentry so that inhabited areas are not endangered. NASA will operate it, taking it over after delivery. A maneuver of this scale has never been performed before, because no structure in orbit has ever been this heavy.

In the future, NASA wants to buy research slots on commercial stations rather than operate one of its own. Several companies are working on successors, but timelines and funding remain open; Europe and Japan are negotiating their participation. In parallel, China operates its own permanently crewed station with Tiangong. The real open question is the transition: between the end of the ISS and an operational successor, there could be a gap with no Western research platform in orbit.