This NASA image was taken by a member of the STS-129 crew aboard the International Space Station shortly after the undocking of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which returned to Earth on November 25, 2009.image: Imago
With the decommissioning of the ISS in 2030, a unique era of global space cooperation will come to an end as the sector enters a more commercialized and privatized phase.
Feb 9, 2026, 9:42 p.mFeb 9, 2026, 9:42 p.m
Frédéric BOURIGAULT, Paris / AFP
The planned end of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2030 also marks the end of a quarter of a century of limitless cooperation in an area that has become indispensable to the daily lives of people on Earth and at the same time a playing field for national interests: space.
Lionel Suchet, deputy director general of the French Center for Space Research (CNES), said:
“It is actually a very interesting moment in the development of space research.”
Lionel Suchet
An unprecedented collaboration between nations
The École Polytechnique graduate, former head of the space division of the CNES from 1996 to 2004, coordinated numerous projects in the first years of the ISS, having witnessed first-hand the descent of the Mir space station in 2001, the Russian precursor to the International Space Station. He emphasizes:
«The history of manned space travel is initially a race into space. The Russians have decided on long-term flights with space stations. The Americans for short-term flights to the moon.”
«There were two separate paths and one logic of competition. One of the positive aspects of the ISS is that we have built a cooperation program that is still unique today.”
Lionel Suchet, Deputy Director General of the CNES.image: MAXIME GRUSS / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
La fin prochaine d’une ère
John Horack, former director of the scientific branch and systems of mission at NASA, above:
“The ISS is a cathedral dedicated to human collaboration and collaboration across borders, languages and cultures.”
John Horack
Horack, who occupied the chair of Neil Armstrong in aerospace politics at Ohio State University, insisted:
“For over 25 years, people have been traveling in space around the clock, seven days a week, 365 days a year. This shows that if we want to interact with each other, we can find solutions instead of fighting each other.”
But time passes and the equipment ages. In the summer of 2024, NASA announced that it had commissioned Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build a module that would return the International Space Station to Earth’s atmosphere and destroy it after it was decommissioned in 2030. John Horack explains:
“This module will slow the ISS and allow it to precisely re-enter over the Pacific, far away from land, people and other potential threats.”
“Several major spacecraft, including Mir and the Gamma Ray Observatory, have been deorbited in this way, even though the ISS is much larger than these two.”
Towards the privatization of space
After 2030, China, with its Tiangong space station, will be the only nation to have such infrastructure in low orbit. The USA, on the other hand, is relying on private space stations that could accommodate NASA astronauts as well as other customers. Horack estimates:
“We are entering an era in which space stations, as well as launch vehicles and satellites, will have a much more commercial dimension.”
John Horack
“They are built and operated by private companies, often global companies whose customers are national space agencies, space programs, etc..”
Several American companies are already working on such projects, including Axiom Space and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin – as are European companies.
“The business model will still remain largely institutional, as we know that countries always have an interest in sending astronauts into low Earth orbit,” says Lionel Suchet.
There remains the question of science and exploration, “a goal of all humanity” for Suchet, who recalls that there are treaties on the non-appropriation and use of space. However, he notes:
“But when a country builds its moon base, it will appropriate the site, because you will not build another moon base in the same place.”
“An era is coming to an end.”
John Horack
“As humans, we must grow in our ability to travel in space and in our use of space to improve the social, economic and educational life and quality of life of all people worldwide.”
He ends the conversation with a quote from the former director of the European Space Agency, Jean-Jacques Dordain:
«If you want to move quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, let’s go together.”
Jean-Jacques Dordain
This image of the International Space Station taken by NASA shows Japan’s Kibo laboratory from inside.image: Imago
You might also be interested in:
Probably the most beautiful lightning strikes in space
Video: srf/SDA SRF