00:00 The American space agency NASA has said that by the end of this decade, the International
00:05 Space Station will be deorbited.
00:07 NASA said that it would mark the end of its life.
00:10 The space agency has issued a proposal for the development of the US Deorbit Vehicle
00:15 or USDV.
00:16 The USDV is a spacecraft designed to safely deorbit the ISS as part of its planned retirement.
00:24 NASA said that it is planned to be a critical component of the strategy to ensure the safe
00:29 and controlled decommissioning of the ISS.
00:32 The International Space Station has been continuously occupied since November 2000.
00:37 The ISS is a joint venture of five space agencies including NASA, the European Space Agency,
00:43 the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and Russia's Roscosmos.
00:49 It has been in operation since 1998.
00:52 The partners have agreed to operate the station until 2030, with Russia committing until at
00:57 least 2028.
00:59 At the end of the ISS program, the station will be deorbited in a controlled manner to
01:03 avoid populated areas.
01:05 NASA informed that the safe deorbit of the ISS is a shared responsibility of all the
01:10 five space agencies based on their respective contributions to the station.
01:15 In anticipation of the ISS's retirement, NASA is seeking to transition its operations in
01:19 low-Earth orbit to commercially owned and operated platforms.
01:24 As per reports, this move aims to ensure continued access and presence in space for research,
01:29 technology development and international collaboration.
01:32 The USDV project represents a significant shift in NASA's approach to deorbiting the
01:37 ISS.
01:38 Reports said that previous strategies considered using multiple Roscosmos Progress spacecraft
01:43 for deorbit operations.
01:45 However, recent evaluations suggest that a new spacecraft would provide more robust capabilities
01:51 for responsible deorbit.
01:52 NASA revealed that the USDV will focus on the final deorbit activity.
01:57 It could be a new spacecraft design or a modification to an existing spacecraft.
02:02 According to reports, the vehicle must function on its first flight and have sufficient redundancy
02:07 and anomaly recovery capability to continue the critical deorbit burn.
02:11 NASA said that given the complexity and size of the development effort, the USDV will take
02:16 years to develop, test and certify.
02:19 Subscribe to One India Channel and never miss an update.
02:27 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments