The International Space Station (ISS) could betaken out of commissionby the end of the decade, and NASA is beginning to turn to the commercial industry for its replacement.
On Friday, the space agency releasedits request for proposalsfor commercial companies to submit plans to develop commercial space stations, which will fly in low Earth orbit, or LEO, a few hundred miles above the Earth.
The period for proposal submissions lasts until Dec. 8. NASA anticipated it will award contracts by spring 2027, around April 15. The initial recipients will receive contracts lasting about eight years, with potential extensions totaling about 15 years in length.
The move was long expected; across multiple presidential administrations, NASA has indicated it planned to open LEO to commercial partners, evensaying in 2024that it was "NASA's goal to be one of many customers" in LEO.
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It does mark a significant moment for the future of spaceflight, as NASA effectively hands over much of the ownership of LEO to private, commercial companies, while the agency sets its sights on the moon and Mars. NASA does plan to stay in LEO into the future, however.
"NASA is committed to maintaining a sustained American presence in low Earth orbit long after the International Space Station retires," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a press release. "We will continue to need a place to conduct research, develop technologies, train crews, and prepare for missions to the Moon and Mars. Commercial space stations may provide that capability while creating new opportunities for American industry and allowing NASA to concentrate more of our resources on the near-impossible missions ahead."
In its letter to industry partners submitting proposals, NASA's contracting officer Ashely Chaves wrote that "NASA is encouraging use of NASA personnel and expertise" with a public-private partnership because "NASA has unique personnel and expertise."
NASA did not offer an outline of how much it could award for these contracts, though they could be up to hundreds of millions dollars. The ISS has cost NASA billions of dollars, even up to $4 billion annuallyaccording to a 2021 report.
Construction of the ISS began in 1998. In 2024, NASAselected SpaceXto develop a space vehicle that willdeorbit the ISS, bringing it through the Earth's atmosphere and splashing down in an unpopulated area in the ocean, awarding the company an $843 million contract to do so.
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