Cover Story
The end of an era
By Jonathan O'Callaghan
October 2024
If all goes as NASA plans, the deorbiting of the International Space Station in early 2031 will be its final chapter, but also the start of a new one in which one or more companies will operate their own stations independently from NASA. But not everyone believes the station should be deorbited then, if ever. Jonathan O’Callaghan examined the differing views and proposed alternatives.