When will the ISS be decommissioned? The deorbit timeline
The International Space Station has been crewed since 2000. NASA plans to retire it and buy time on commercial stations instead, which cheaper launch has made possible. Here is the plan for bringing it down, step by step, from NASA and its auditor.
Decommissioned: NASA plans to operate the ISS through 2030.
Falls to Earth: at the end of 2030 or early 2031, a SpaceX-built deorbit vehicle docked to the station makes a final burn and steers it into an uninhabited area of the South Pacific. Pieces that survive reentry fall in a strip of ocean 6,000 km long or less.
Could it change? Yes. In 2027 NASA decides whether to launch the deorbit vehicle in 2029 or keep the station flying longer.
The deorbit plan, year by year
- 2026 NASA completes a new structural analysis of the station's life beyond 2028.
- 2027 NASA decides whether to launch the deorbit vehicle in 2029 or extend the ISS. Phase 2 commercial station awards expected in spring.
- 2028 SpaceX expected to finish the deorbit vehicle. From early to mid-2028 the station is allowed to sink, by air drag and Russian-segment burns.
- Mid-2029 The deorbit vehicle launches and docks to the ISS.
- 2030 Last year of planned operations. NASA wants a commercial station to have hosted four crew for 30 days by now.
- End of 2030 or early 2031 Final burn: the ISS reenters over the South Pacific.
Source: GAO-26-107805, Jun 17, 2026, "NASA's plans for the ISS transition", from NASA documents and interviews.
How NASA will bring it down
- Deorbit vehicle
- SpaceX builds the US Deorbit Vehicle under a single contract worth up to $843 million, awarded June 26, 2024: a Dragon spacecraft with a propulsion trunk that docks to the ISS and makes the final burn. NASA, Jun 26, 2024
- Where it lands
- An uninhabited area of the South Pacific Ocean, with a debris footprint of 6,000 km or less. NASA, US Deorbit Vehicle fact sheet, June 2025
- Size
- 419,725 kg (925,335 lb); 1,005 cubic meters pressurized, 388 cubic meters habitable NASA, Space Station Facts and Figures, Nov 1, 2026
- Structure
- NASA has high confidence the structure can operate through 2028; its officials told GAO the life could be extended to the late 2030s or 2040 if needed, with a new analysis due in 2026. GAO-26-107805, Jun 17, 2026
- Russia
- Russia has committed to operating the station through at least 2028; the US, Japan, Canada and ESA through 2030. NASA, Jun 26, 2024
- Russia
- Roscosmos plans to launch the first module of its own Russian Orbital Station in 2028. TASS, Mar 17, 2026 (press report)
For scale: China's first station, Tiangong-1, came down uncontrolled over the South Pacific on April 2, 2018 (UTC), at about 7.5 tonnes (ESA). The ISS is more than 50 times heavier, which is why NASA is paying for a controlled reentry rather than leaving it to air drag.
What replaces it
NASA wants to become a customer of privately owned stations. Proposals for its next round of funding are due December 8, 2026, with awards expected in spring 2027, and NASA wants a commercial station to have hosted four crew for 30 days by 2030. The candidates and every date they have given are on the commercial space station tracker; the first, Vast's Haven-1, targets the first quarter of 2027.
Changes to this page
- Nov 1, 2026 · First published from NASA and GAO-26-107805 (June 17, 2026).
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EJ, "When will the ISS be decommissioned? The deorbit timeline", Orbit Economics, updated Nov 1, 2026, https://orbiteconomics.com/iss-deorbit/
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.