Elon Musk Has a New Piece of Advice for President Trump: Deorbit the ISS Within Two Years

The International Space Station (ISS) is a collaborative international project. In fact, it’s one of the most significant and monumental international projects in history, resulting from the cooperation of multiple countries. However, one man is now advocating for its premature end. That man is, of course, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

In an ideal world, entrepreneurs wouldn’t have the power to dismantle what so many nations have worked together to create, especially since Musk’s new rocket will be used to prioritize Mars colonization. Additionally, Musk isn’t just a businessman. He’s the world’s richest person and possesses enough power and political influence to make his opinions carry weight.

Musk’s latest proposal. “It is time to begin preparations for deorbiting the [ISS],” he shared on an X post on Thursday, adding, “It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility. Let’s go to Mars.”

When should this happen? Musk suggests, “The decision is up to [President Donald Trump], but my recommendation is as soon as possible. I recommend 2 years from now.” This timeline implies a deorbiting in 2027, three years before the date the ISS partner countries agreed on.

An accelerated end. At 25 years old, the ISS is showing signs of aging. Maintenance costs have increased, and structural fatigue is becoming a growing concern. Additionally, the risk of impact with space junk is on the rise.

The ISS partners have agreed to keep the station operational until 2030. After that, the plan is to tow it with a specialized spacecraft to a safe location, presumably the Pacific Ocean, for atmospheric reentry. NASA has contracted SpaceX to develop this vehicle before the deadline.

Hopefully, commercial space stations will be established in low Earth orbit by 2030. However, by 2027, the year Musk suggests, the presence of American astronauts in space is likely to be disrupted. This might also affect contributions from European, Japanese, and Canadian astronauts. In contrast, the presence of Chinese astronauts in space is expected to continue.

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Can Trump retire the ISS early? That’s the big question. The ISS is managed by five space agencies: NASA (U.S.), Roscosmos (Russia), the European Space Agency (Europe), JAXA (Japan), and CSA (Canada).

Canada operates the Canadarm robotic arm, while Europe manages the ERA robotic arm and the Columbus laboratory. Broadly speaking, the ISS consists of two main segments owned by the U.S. and Russia. Recently, as Russia threatened to undock its segment and leave before 2030, some speculate that Trump could suggest doing the same.

It’s difficult to envision a scenario where NASA’s European, Japanese, and Canadian partners would agree to a sudden termination of the ISS program. For example, what would happen to the European astronauts scheduled to fly to the ISS before 2030? Many plans would need to be adjusted.

“You are fully retarded.” Musk’s statements may have been made in the heat of the moment. He shared them just hours after criticizing former ISS commander Andreas Mogensen, who had accused him of lying during an appearance on Fox News.

Musk and Trump have been promoting a narrative that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were abandoned by former President Joe Biden in space following the Boeing Starliner incident. In reality, NASA had already arranged for their return during the Biden administration by reserving two empty seats on the Crew-9 mission, which is scheduled to return to Earth in late March. Creating a dedicated spacecraft for them would have cost tens of millions of dollars.

When Mogensen pointed this out to him on his X account, Musk responded, “You are fully retarded.  SpaceX could have brought them back several months ago. I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration and they refused. Return WAS pushed back for political reasons. Idiot.”

Image | NASA

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