NASA Requests Funding for $1 Billion ‘Space Tug’ to Deorbit the ISS

NASA is developing a plan to deorbit the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of its lifetime, currently scheduled for 2030. Since the 356-foot-wide laboratory is too big to completely vaporize if left to naturally burn in Earth’s atmosphere, the space agency intends to send a US spacecraft to help deorbit the station and direct its reentry over the unpopulated South Pacific. Earlier this year, NASA requested ideas from the industry for a new spacecraft design or a modification of an existing vehicle to fit this purpose. More

(Source: SpaceRef - Nov 22)