The United States Needs Permanent Space Stations

The International Space Station (ISS) is rapidly approaching the end of its service life. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman should accelerate the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations (CLD) program to ensure that new space stations replace the ISS before it’s deorbited in 2030. The need to replace the ISS is now at the point where bureaucratic delay could become a diplomatic disaster. The program must get moving again because this process isn’t just another government contracting fight; it is a prerequisite for a continuous, crewed presence in low-earth orbit (LEO), which is essential to U.S. diplomacy with allies and maintaining a competitive advantage against adversaries.

Space is now a diplomatic arena, with countries picking between two camps—one led by the United States and the other by China and Russia. The two camps have different space stations that will compete for the benefits of sustained human presence in low-earth orbit (LEO). These benefits include scientific and engineering research that improves the lives of people on Earth, enhances space infrastructure, and helps astronauts remain healthy in orbit. If NASA doesn’t get the CLD program back on track, it could cause irreparable harm to U.S. space competitiveness.

The ISS is a research facility that has been orbiting Earth since 2000 and is designed, built, and operated by the United States in collaboration with Russia, Canada, Japan, and the European Union. Deorbiting the ISS has been on NASA’s to-do list since 2019, but after initial progress, the program has stalled. Now, the plan, called the CLD program, is for NASA to contract with private companies to build and launch new space stations, designed to maximize scientific and technological progress. However, this process has been constrained by structural cost-cutting, which now threatens the 2030 deadline. These delays could be costlier than any potential savings.

The end of the ISS is the end of 30 years of diplomatic partnership in space between the United States and other member nations. The post-ISS realignment has already begun. In 2020, two groups emerged with competing visions for the use of space. The United States leads one camp, embodied in the Artemis Accords, which recently added its 61st signatory. The Accords are a step toward a peaceful, interoperable, and collaborative use of space as more nations and private companies conduct missions in LEO and beyond.

China and Russia lead the other camp. China’s Tiangong space station has been fully operational since 2021, and in 2023, Russia announced that it would be leaving the ISS to pursue its own space station.

For two decades, the ISS was the only station where countries could send their astronauts, but if Chinese and Russian stations become the only options, other countries will not hesitate to use them. The scientific and strategic benefits of continuous access to LEO are too great to pass up.

In the future, when there is a space station market, if the United States provides the best options for other countries to send their astronauts, then the United States will improve its competitive stance versus China and Russia, as well as expand good diplomacy as more countries choose to partner with the United States over adversaries. NASA must successfully execute its plan to establish a robust CLD economy so the United States can maintain its competitive edge and continue to lead the frontiers of science, engineering, and space exploration.

Further, the unique microgravity environment of space is scientifically valuable, and if the United States has no presence in LEO, then adversaries will lead these valuable research project. The U.S. National Laboratory on the ISS continues to make significant scientific contributions across numerous fields. Researchers on the ISS have produced about 400 research papers and contributed to treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease. One experiment, for example, leveraged the microgravity environment to produce uniform protein crystals that have improved the delivery of cancer-fighting drug Keytruda. Replacing the ISS with CLDs quickly will ensure that this critical research continues to be led by the United States.

Similarly, astronauts working on CLDs will be able to continue developing the systems and operations for crewed missions beyond LEO. Navigation, communication, and space suit technologies initially developed on the ISS need further improvement ahead of crewed missions to the Moon and Mars. If astronauts on the CLDs can build on the success of ISS astronauts who grow their own food, recycle 98% of their water, and improve on-station healthcare, then a continuous presence will enable the United States’ plans for future space exploration. Losing America’s technological edge will create compounding long-term risks, leaving the United States increasingly behind and unprepared.

That's why, regardless of prior delays, the top priority for NASA must be rapidly advancing the CLD program. Now that Administrator Isaacman has taken the helm, it is time to get organized and finalize the plan to replace the ISS. Any gap in continuous presence in orbit puts the future of U.S. space competitiveness at risk.