25th Year of International Space Station

GS Paper II Science and Technology

Context:

With more than 1,40,000 Earth orbits, the International Space Station (ISS) has recently completed 25 years.

ISS: It is a multi-nation construction project and its main construction was completed between 1998 and 2011.
- According to the European Space Agency (ESA), it is a co-operative programme between Europe, United States, Russia, Canada and Japan.

International Space Station

Orbit: The space station orbits in low Earth orbit (LEO) at an altitude of approximately 430 kilometers, with its orbital path taking it over 90% of the Earth’s population.
Average Speed: The International Space Station circles Earth every 90 minutes at a speed of 8 kilometers per second.
Launch: The first segment of the ISS viz. Zarya Control Module was Russian and launched November 20, 1998. The ISS was completed over the course of 42 assembly flights.
Scientific Discoveries on the ISS: There have been discoveries to benefit drug development, new water purification systems, methods to mitigate muscle and bone atrophy and those that have led innovations in food production.
Uncertainty in Future Operation: Plans for the future operation of the ISS became uncertain with the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
Deorbiting ISS: The ISS is scheduled to end its lifetime in 2030. NASA, Canadian Space Agency, and European Space Agency have committed to operating the space station till 2030.
- Russian space agency Roscosmos has committed to the space station only till 2028.
- NASA has requested ideas from the US aerospace industry to build the “US Deorbit Vehicle” (USDV) focused on the final deorbit activity.
Further Reading: Gaganyan Mission, Tiangong Space Station