Because the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) approaches the top of its life, a brand new period of everlasting area occupation is on the horizon. Nations and personal corporations across the globe are racing to grow to be the subsequent main area station operators—and a couple of might succeed.

Why Is the ISS Being Retired?

Because the first phase of the ISS—Zarya—was launched into orbit by a Proton rocket in 1998, it has grown to include 18 pressurized modules, plus the built-in truss construction which supplies attachment factors for the area station’s operational expertise.

Throughout its practically three a long time of operation, the ISS has undergone steady dynamic loading, reminiscent of spacecraft dockings and undockings, and orbital thermal biking, which is the repeated heating and cooling cycle it experiences because it orbits our planet. Such stresses and strains have led to put on and tear on the ISS, and it is turning into more and more costly to take care of.

Upkeep prices apart, the ISS must be protected, because it normally has round seven individuals onboard at any given level. Over time, degrading {hardware} might trigger it to grow to be a harmful place to be, and no one needs to see a repeat of the occasions of the Soviet Union’s Salyut area station in 1985, which misplaced communication with Earth and drifted uncontrollably till it was rescued by two cosmonauts.

What’s extra, as area expertise advances, the ISS’s modules and parts might not be suitable with future platforms. “A lot of the structural {hardware} on the station was designed and constructed within the late Nineties and 2000s,” says NASA.

There is no denying that the ISS’s retirement will likely be a tragic occasion, with practically 300 astronauts, cosmonauts, and different contributors visiting the spacecraft, and over 3,000 experiments being carried out onboard. Nevertheless, this presents a possibility for brand spanking new, thrilling ventures within the close to future.

Tiangong Area Station

The Tiangong Area Station, which includes three modules, is a T-shaped station that already orbits low Earth. It was China’s home-brewed reply to the ISS.

Nevertheless, in 2023, in an try to extend Tiangong’s worldwide enchantment, the China Manned Area Company (CMSA) invited foreign astronauts onto its space station, welcoming “international locations and areas dedicated to the peaceable use of outer area to cooperate […] and take part within the Chinese language area station missions.” That stated, on the time of writing (February 2025), Tiangong has but to accommodate any people from abroad.

Axiom Station

As with most area stations, Axiom will comprise a number of parts. First, the so-called Payload Energy Thermal module will connect to the ISS, earlier than it turns into autonomous and is joined by a habitat module, an airlock, one other habitat module, and, lastly, the station’s analysis and manufacturing module, which additionally has an Earth observatory. Building of the primary module’s major buildings is underway.

Dubbed “the world’s first commercial space station,” Axiom is hoped to supply “astronauts with superior capabilities for area exploration in a commercially developed human system wanted to entry, dwell, and work in low-Earth orbit, on the Moon, and past.”

Orbital Reef

According to Space Sierra, one in all Orbital Reef’s two principal operational companions, this spacecraft would be the “premier mixed-use area station in low Earth orbit for commerce, analysis, and tourism.” The station’s major focus will likely be accessibility and adaptability, and its identify nods to the truth that will probably be a various and self-sustainable ecosystem, similar to a coral reef within the ocean.

As of February 2025, Orbital Reef continues to be in its testing part, with bodily development but to start. Nevertheless, Jeff Bezos, the proprietor of Blue Origin, has bold plans to make the station “humanity’s boldest step into space.”

Starlab

Whereas different potential ISS replacements have eyes on industrial concerns, Starlab is meant to be precisely what its identify suggests: a laboratory for groundbreaking analysis, innovation, discovery, and technological development. Its inflatable construction will enable it to be transported in a single flight.

Preparations for Starlab’s operation are progressing effectively. In December 2024, NASA announced that the Starlab undertaking had handed 4 key milestones of the NASA Area Act Settlement—critiques of the habitat structural check article preliminary design, programs integration, built-in operations, and a habitat structural check plan—after passing structural checks earlier within the 12 months.

Bharatiya Antariksha Station

India’s plan to orbit the Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS) round Earth is a part of the country’s official plan to “foster high-performance biomanufacturing” by engaged on “areas reminiscent of microgravity analysis, area biotechnology, area biomanufacturing, bioastronautics, and area biology.” The undertaking is meant to advertise collaboration, conduct groundbreaking analysis, and profit all nations globally.

In the long run, the BAS is hoped to allow a crewed lunar mission by 2040. India has dedicated over $2.3 million to the undertaking, with an extra reserve of practically $1.3 million for additional improvement down the road.

Airbus LOOP

Airbus has been concerned in area exploration for many years, however the company hopes its LOOP spacecraft will go one step further by making “long-term stays in area snug and gratifying for its inhabitants, whereas supporting environment friendly and sustainable operations.”

LOOP’s construction will likely be distinctive, internet hosting three interconnected tales inside a singular module. The highest ground would be the habitation deck the place the crew will dwell and train, the center ground will likely be a science deck, and the underside ground will likely be a centrifuge that can create Earth-gravity-like circumstances on the opposite two decks.

Airbus is a part of the workforce growing Starlab, which is ready to come back first. Because of this Airbus LOOP continues to be in its conceptual part.

Huge Haven-2

Vast Haven-2 is expected to assist “long-term dwelling and thriving in area” and supply massive, state-of-the-art labs for microgravity analysis and in-space manufacturing. The craft may also have a module devoted to worldwide companions, the place different nations can leap on board and take advantage of its services.

This area station is deliberate to be larger, extra purposeful, and extra operationally environment friendly than all different proposed ISS replacements. First, Huge Area will launch Haven-1—a industrial area station—in 2026, and it then hopes to place Haven-2—the ISS’s successor—in 2028.

Do not despair: The ISS is not going wherever simply but, and you will nonetheless be capable to track and see it as it passes overhead for just a few extra years!