The ISS May Live for a Little Bit Longer for a Totally Predictable Reason

The end may not be so near for the International Space Station (ISS), at least not until a privately owned alternative has filled its orbital shoes. The U.S. Senate advanced a revised version of a NASA authorization bill, which would delay the retirement of the ISS from 2030 to 2032. The goal of the two-year extension is to “avoid a gap in continuous human presence and capabilities in [low-Earth orbit], thus avoiding ceding leadership to China before commercial stations are ready,” the NASA Authorization Act reads. Congress added a sense of urgency toward NASA’s plans of maintaining a human presence in Earth orbit by transitioning to the use of commercial space stations. Despite the ISS retirement scheduled in a few years’ time, the space agency has yet to kick off the final round of a competition among industry leaders to develop their own orbital lab. With no clear alternative in sight, U.S. lawmakers are concerned about whether private companies will be prepared to replace the ISS by 2030. The ISS has served as a home to astronauts in low-Earth orbit for 26 years, but the aging spacecraft is nearing the end of its life. NASA and its international partners are planning on retirin