Post-ISS Future Plans

The ISS is scheduled for retirement around 2030, when it will be deorbited into the Pacific Ocean. Several commercial stations are being developed to take its place. Axiom Space is building modules for Axiom Station; under the revised plan, the first module is expected to attach to the ISS no earlier than 2027 before later helping form an independent station.

Vast Space is developing Haven-1, a single-module commercial station. Axiom Space plans to launch modules that will attach to the ISS and later separate to form an independent station, Axiom Station. China has already launched its own Tiangong station, continuously occupied since 2022. The post-ISS era will see multiple stations run by different nations and companies, ending the era of a single shared outpost.