--- title: "Former Space Agency Leaders Horrified by Plan to Destroy Space Station, Say It Would Be Easier to Save It" description: "A former ESA director and a former NASA administrator argue that we should boost the space station's orbit as a gift to future generations." date: "2024-07-16" modified: "2024-07-16" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/former-space-leaders-rescue-space-station" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "european space agency" - "international space station" - "NASA" --- # Former Space Agency Leaders Horrified by Plan to Destroy Space Station, Say It Would Be Easier to Save It ![A former ESA director and a former NASA administrator argue that we should boost the space station's orbit as a gift to future generations.]() *\Image: NASA / Futurism\* ## Save the ISS Last month, NASA awarded SpaceX an [almost $1 billion contract]() to develop a "US Deorbit Vehicle" capable of pulling the International Space Station out of orbit and burning it up in the Earth's atmosphere. The aging orbital outpost's demise has been in the works for years now, with NASA hoping to destroy it by 2030, marking the end of three decades of peaceful international cooperation in Earth's orbit. And not everybody's happy with the plan. Jean-Jacques Dordain, who was the director general of the European Space Agency when the station was being built, and former NASA administrator Michael Griffin say its life should be extended instead, giving future scientists a chance to continue studying outer space. "As two among many builders of ISS, we recommend to those in charge to consider other options than destroying" the station, Dordain [told *Forbes*]() in an interview. Instead, he argued, the ISS should be transferred "to future generations... leaving them to decide" its fate, he added. ## Future Gift To do it, Dordain and Griffin argue SpaceX's deorbit vehicle should be used to rescue the station, not destroy it. Such a rocket would *increase* the ISS's altitude, not lower it, allowing it to enter a stable orbit much farther from the Earth. In an [open letter]() published by *SpaceNews* earlier this month, the two space agency legends argued that boosting the ISS "from its present 400-kilometer altitude to an 800-kilometer altitude circular orbit requires a boost of about 220 meters per second, about the same as required for precise deorbit control." "At the higher altitude, the orbital lifetime would be many decades, providing ample time for future generations to take their own decisions and actions," the letter reads. "For that, the ISS should be left in a condition such that no part of it can explode and create a long-lived debris hazard." "Obviously, further studies must be conducted before those in charge today can make an informed decision," the pair wrote. "We are not in charge anymore, but our question to the current generation is: since the boost stage must be built anyway, would it not be better to use that stage to place the ISS in a higher orbit for the possible use of a future generation than to destroy it upon reentry?" **More on the ISS:** [*Space Station May Fall for 18 Months Before Finally Being Torn Apart, NASA Says*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()