International Space Station program with on-orbit refurbishment in mind. According to the Outer Space Treaty the United States is legally responsible for all modules it has launched. In ISS planning, NASA examined options including returning the station to Earth via shuttle missions (deemed too expensive, as the station(USOS) is not designed for disassembly and this would require at least 27 shuttle missions), natural orbital decay with random reentry similar to Skylab, boosting the station to a higher altitude (which would simply delay reentry) and a controlled targeted de-orbit to a remote ocean area. The technical feasibility of a controlled targeted deorbit into a remote
Aurora Space Station Aurora Space Station The Aurora Space Station is a technology concept for a private commercial space station in low Earth orbit that was announced on 5 March 2018 by Orion Span, a startup aerospace company in California, USA. The concept envisions a capacity of six people: two crew and four tourists. No launch contract has been signed for deployment of the modules nor crewed vehicles, and its construction has not started, but its representatives claim it will be launched in 2021. Frank Bunger, the founder and CEO of Orion Span, stated that the Aurora Station would offer to space tourists