The Trump administration is hoping to privatize the International Space Station (ISS) by the year 2025, according to multiple reports.
A budget proposal, which is expected to be released Monday, states the Trump government is seeking to turn the ISS into a private real estate venture, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post.
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“The decision to end direct federal support for the ISS in 2025 does not imply that the platform itself will be deorbited at that time — it is possible that industry could continue to operate certain elements or capabilities of the ISS as part of a future commercial platform,” the document reportedly states. “NASA will expand international and commercial partnerships over the next seven years in order to ensure continued human access to and presence in low Earth orbit.”
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The Post report says the document has little details as to how the ISS would be monetized.
Frank Slazer, the vice president of space systems for the Aerospace Industries Association, told the newspaper that international commitments may make the plan impossible to pull off.
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“It will be very hard to turn ISS into a truly commercial outpost because of the international agreements that the United States is involved in,” he said. “It’s inherently always going to be an international construct that requires U.S. government involvement and multi-national cooperation.”
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It had been reported that the Trump administration was ready to pull the plug on the space station.
Donald Trump has said in the past that one of NASA’s top priorities will be to send people back to the moon but the budget announcement states that will not happen before he leaves office even if he is elected to a second term, the New York Times reports.
The Trump administration is hoping to accomplish the feat without increasing NASA’s budget.
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The Trump government’s reported offering is just a proposal as U.S. Congress has final say over the agency’s numbers. It will take the proposal into consideration as it draws up the final budget.
NASA currently has vacancies at its top two postings, although Trump has nominated Jim Bridenstine to the next administrator.
The nomination of the Oklahoma congressmen has been panned by many as he has long been a climate change skeptic. In addition, past NASA leaders have come from a scientific background rather than a political one.