Report: Trump Administration Wants to Turn International Space Station Into Commercial Venture

The Trump administration is taking steps to turn the International Space Station into a commercial venture, The Washington Post reports, citing an internal NASA document. The document reportedly details a gradual transformation, with the White House to stop federal funding for the station after 2024, at which point a transition process would begin that could turn the orbiting laboratory over to the private sector. “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 NASA document states, according to The Washington Post. The document offers few details on how privatization of the ISS would work, but the White House reportedly plans to “request market analysis and business plans from the commercial sector and solicit plans from commercial industry.”