The administration of U.S. President
Donald Trump plans to turn the International Space Station (ISS) into a
private enterprise, local media reported, citing an internal document of
the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
In late January, U.S. media reported,
citing a draft budget proposal, that the Trump administration may stop
funding the ISS programme by 2025.
“The decision to end direct federal
support for the ISS in 2025 does not imply that the platform itself will
be de-orbited at that time.
“It is possible that industry could
continue to operate certain elements or capabilities of the ISS as part
of a future commercial platform,” the internal NASA document said, as
quoted in a Washington Post article released on Sunday.
According to the newspaper, the White
House is creating a transition plan for moving the ISS to the private
sector and will request 150 million dollars for the 2019 fiscal year to
support the commercial entities that would manage the space station in
the future.
The proposal is likely to face public
disapproval, as it had taken the U.S. nearly 100 billion dollars to
construct and operate the ISS, the newspaper added.
According to NASA figures, the ISS operational costs will amount to 3-4 billion dollars per year through 2024.
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