During a panel discussion on NASA’s plans for a mission to Mars, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development Bill Hill pointed that the agency is planning collaboration with commercial spaceflight companies such as SpaceX.
“NASA's trying to develop economic development in low-Earth orbit. Ultimately, our desire is to hand the space station over to either a commercial entity or some other commercial capability so that research can continue in low-earth orbit, we figure that will be in the mid-20s,” Hill said.
The statement appeared just before two NASA astronauts, Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins, were preparing to install international docking adapters to the stations.
The International Space Station was originally designed to through September 2020, with Boeing’s as its prime contractor, with a five-year and $1.2billion deal. However, Boeing is still studying whether it will be feasible it to extend station’s functional life beyond 2028.
The agency intentions came at the time when Obama administration has proposed $19 billion for the space agency in the fiscal 2017 budget, compared to $19.3 billion it received in previous fiscal year.
With the decline in governmental inputs for the growth of the station and rise of private industries interest in the space industry, turning over to private enterprise may prove to be beneficial for the agency.
“Commercial companies continue to approach NASA to use the ISS in ways we never imagine,” the agency said in a blogpost.
