Some 30 years after construction began in 1998, the International Space Station (ISS) will be phased out over the next five years. The initial plan is to gradually lower the station from early 2028. In late 2030 or early 2031, the ISS will be inserted into Earth’s atmosphere in a controlled manner using a deorbiting spacecraft provided by SpaceX.
ISS: collision with spaceship graveyard
This is necessary to ensure that unburned components of the ISS do not fall to Earth in populated areas where they could cause damage. Instead, they will land in a part of the South Pacific called Point Nemo, which, due to its remoteness and special conditions, is used as a spaceship graveyard.
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But for environmentalists like Mark Spalding, president of the Ocean Foundation, the planned approach “raises serious concerns about the health of the oceans.” The space community is not doing enough about this yet, an expert told space.com.
Space junk: There are no rules for the oceans
The planned re-entry of the ISS into the Earth’s atmosphere and the expected fall of components into the sea exposes a “worrying structural gap in international law.” While countries involved in space travel will have to pay compensation to other countries if space debris lands on their territory and causes destruction, there are no such rules for the ocean.
Accordingly, there is no legal obligation to cover the costs of potential cleanup operations or potential environmental damage, as Spaulding criticizes. Point Nemo is far from human infrastructure. But this should not be confused with lack of value or vulnerability. The ocean and the plants and animals that live there also deserve protection, the president of the Ocean Foundation said.
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The largest deorbiting project in space history
Moreover, it is not really known what space debris left behind from the ISS does to the ecosystem and living creatures on the seabed. There are no relevant studies. The ISS is a structure the size of a football field. The Deorbit project is the largest in the history of space travel.
18 breathtaking images of Earth from space
What also shouldn’t be ignored is that with the massive build-up of satellite fleets by the likes of SpaceX, a lot of space junk is being returned to Earth. From an environmental point of view, recycling should be considered as part of the production and supply chain.
This article was originally published on June 27, 2026, but is still of interest to many of our readers. So we’ve updated it and made it available here again.
