The International Space Station (ISS), a major symbol of global cooperation in space, is set to return to Earth in 2030, marking the end of more than three decades of continuous human presence in orbit around the planet. Since its first crew arrived in November 2000, people have lived and worked aboard the station without interruption, making it a key part of everyday space exploration and scientific research.
The ISS was built and operated by a group of space agencies, including NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (European Space Agency), JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and CSA (Canadian Space Agency). For many, it represented what nations could achieve together through peaceful collaboration. Today, as plans move forward for its controlled descent, some people involved in the project are reflecting on its legacy with nostalgia and pride.
John Horack, former manager of NASA’s Science and Mission Systems Office, described the ISS as “a cathedral to human cooperation and collaboration across borders, languages and cultures.” He highlighted how remarkable it has been that for more than 25 years, people have been continuously aboard the station – 24/7, 365 days a year. “It is a testament to how we can ‘figure it out’ rather than ‘fight it out’ when we wish to interact with each other,” Horack told AFP.
The idea for the ISS grew out of the end of the Cold War, when former rivals such as the United States and Russia chose to work together in space instead of competing. Even amid recent political tensions, including the war in Ukraine that strained many ties between Russia and Western nations, cooperation aboard the ISS has continued.
Lionel Suchet, a representative of France’s space agency CNES, explained the station’s significance in the larger story of spaceflight. “The history of human spaceflight is first and foremost the space race,” Suchet told AFP. He also said, “This is a very interesting moment in the evolution of space exploration,” noting how the ISS’s predecessor, the Russian Mir station, de-orbited in 2001 and now the ISS itself is nearing the end of its lifetime.
Although the ISS has been a historic and highly productive platform for science and international collaboration, its technology and equipment have become old and outdated. To bring it back safely, NASA selected SpaceX last year to build a special vehicle that will help push the station out of orbit and into Earth’s atmosphere in 2030. Once the station begins its controlled re-entry, most of it will burn up, and the remaining pieces will fall into a remote area of the Pacific Ocean far from land.
Horack explained that “this large rocket engine will slow down the ISS, and enable it to have a precise re-entry over the Pacific Ocean, far from land, people or any other potential hazards.”
Throughout history, other spacecraft and telescopes like Mir have been brought down in similar ways, often splashing into isolated ocean regions such as Point Nemo.
After the ISS mission ends in 2030, the only station in low-Earth orbit will be China’s Tiangong space station. Plans for the future focus more on commercially built and operated space stations. NASA and other national space agencies are expected to work with private companies to continue space-based research and human habitation in orbit.
Horack said, “We are moving into an era where space stations have a much more commercial dimension,” similar to changes that have already happened with rockets and satellites. Under this model, national space agencies would pay private companies to send astronauts to these new stations.
Several private firms, including Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Axiom Space, are already planning to build the first commercial space stations.
Suchet pointed out that “the business model will still be largely institutional because countries are always interested in sending astronauts into low-Earth orbit.” He also emphasised that scientific research and exploration remain objectives for all humanity, referring to existing treaties that guide how nations act in space.
For many involved with the ISS, its retirement is an emotional moment. Horack described the end of the station’s mission as “quite sad.” He shared that his children had spent years watching the ISS fly over their backyard, a personal memory shared by many space enthusiasts around the world.
Despite this sadness, Horack said the closure of the ISS also represents the start of a new chapter in human space exploration. “We must grow as humans in our space-faring capacity, in our exploration of space, and in the use of space to generate social, economic, educational and quality of life outcomes for all people everywhere,” he said.
He concluded by quoting former European Space Agency head Jean-Jacques Dordain: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
The ISS will be remembered not just for its scientific discoveries, but for its role in bringing nations together for peaceful cooperation in space.