NASA has selected SpaceX to develop the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, which will be responsible for guiding the ISS to its end of life. While SpaceX will develop the spacecraft, NASA will take ownership and oversee its operation during the deorbit process. The spacecraft will ultimately burn up along with the ISS during re-entry.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is a major partner on the ISS programme, with Nasa contracts to deliver astronauts and cargo to the station

Elon Musk is beefing with a former commander of the International Space Station on his social media platform X, in a quarrel over the two NASA astronauts that have been at the station for months. The spat escalated with Musk on Thursday calling to decommission the ISS,