Space Trump administration considering privatizing International Space Station Documents show a plan to cease funding for the orbiting lab by 2024 and pitches running ISS ‘as part of a future commercial platform’ The International Space Station transits the moon. Photograph: NASA/PAThe Trump administration is considering turning the International Space Station over to private enterprise, according to internal documents obtained by the Washington Post, and ceasing to fund the orbiting lab by 2024. “As the cost of access to low earth orbit continues to decline, more opportunities for commerce in space will emerge, with the International Space Station at the nexus and the United States at the helm,” he wrote. Photograph: UPI / Barcroft ImagesTwo years ago, Budget Suites of America billionaire Robert Bigelow funded an inflatable module designed to increase living space on the station. “It’s inherently always going to be an international construct that requires US government involvement and multi-national cooperation.”Last month, Boeing’s space station program manager Mark Mulqueen warned that “walking away from the International Space Station now would be a mistake, threatening American leadership and hurting the commercial market as well as the scientific community”.

Source: The Guardian February 11, 2018 18:39 UTC