Everything must come to an end sooner or later, even when it comes to something as beloved and significant as the International Space Station. There is still some time before NASA must properly dismantle the station and de-orbit it, but there must be a plan in place for the process or there is significant risk. The station is solidly built and will remain in low Earth orbit until 2030. The space agency must be ready before the last crew leaves the station. This is not the first time NASA has de-orbited a space station, as the national agency learned a thing or two from its own Skylab station in 1979 and Russia’s Mir station in 2001.

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In preparation for the ISS’s ultimate end of life, NASA commissioned SpaceX to develop the US Deorbiting Vehicle, which would safely remove the station from Earth’s orbit. Several alternatives were considered before deciding to deorbit the ISS, which is a nice way of saying it will be destroyed. NASA considered an uncontrolled reentry, but the ISS is almost the size of an American football field. Without the ability to maneuver the space station, it could crash in an inhabited region.

Ken Bowersox, the agency’s director of space operations, said: “The selection of a U.S. de-orbit vehicle for the International Space Station (ISS) will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition to low Earth orbit at the end of the station’s operations.”

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There are no details yet on the deorbiting vehicle’s design. SpaceX could use the $843 million NASA awarded the company to modify an existing Dragon spacecraft to do the job, or it could build an entirely new vehicle from scratch. What is known is that the deorbiting vehicle will launch about a year before the International Space Station’s expiration date, while there are still astronauts alive on board, and attach itself to it. The astronauts still on board would gradually depart and return to Earth over the course of the year until the station is completely empty for the first time in 30 years.

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As the ISS’s orbit naturally decreases, the “tug” will perform a series of burns to maneuver it into a position in Earth’s atmosphere where it and any falling debris will plunge into parts of the Pacific Ocean that are not densely populated. The station’s final resting place is a remote spot in the Pacific called Point Nemo, over 2,500 km from the mainland. This is the point in the ocean farthest from any piece of land.

Developing a vehicle that can safely bring the space station to Earth isn’t so simple. That’s the easy part. Scientific American reported that NASA told SpaceX that the vehicle could complete its mission even if up to two components failed. Right now, the ISS orbits the Earth inconspicuously and is visible to the naked eye (if you know where to look), but its final descent will be a pyre for the world to see.

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