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NASA plans to retire the International Space Station (ISS) after 2030 and buy low Earth orbit destination and transportation services from commercially owned and operated stations. The October 9, 2026 final request for proposals (RFP) asks U.S. companies for complete station plans—from design and construction through certification and operations—with proposals due December 8, 2026 and expected awards in spring 2027.
This is a planned transition, not a completed handoff. No replacement station has yet been shown by the cited NASA material to be certified or operating, and continuous service after the ISS remains a goal rather than a guarantee.
NASA is changing from station operator to station customer
For more than two decades, NASA has helped operate a government-led orbital laboratory. Its commercial-space-station strategy reverses that relationship: private providers would own and operate destinations in low Earth orbit, while NASA purchases the access, laboratory capacity, transportation and other services required for its missions.
The agency expects those destinations to serve more than one customer. NASA’s stated objectives are to preserve microgravity research and technology development, train crews for future exploration, and enable additional commercial activity while directing more of its own resources toward the Moon and Mars.
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That objective depends on two unproven conditions: that companies can deliver safe, certified stations on schedule and that enough non-NASA demand develops to support a functioning marketplace. NASA’s plan does not itself establish either outcome.
“We want to see credible plans, strong technical execution, and companies prepared to invest in destinations that can serve NASA while developing additional customers and markets of their own,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said when announcing the final RFP on October 9, 2026.
What the October 2026 procurement actually asks for
The final RFP is broader than a request to build a module or provide occasional rides. A proposed offering must include both a human-spaceflight destination and transportation services. NASA’s scope covers the complete lifecycle:
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- Station and transportation design
- Construction and integration
- Testing
- Certification for human use
- Launch and in-orbit operations
- Delivery of the services NASA orders
The intended contract is a firm-fixed-price, multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity arrangement. NASA expects to select at least two contractors for early development. Later, a competitive task order would cover final design, testing, evaluation, certification and operational services from one or more of those contractors.
That structure is important for private spaceflight. It separates having a credible development team from being selected to provide final, recurring services. A company named in an earlier NASA collaboration is not automatically a winner of this procurement, and an announced concept is not the same as a certified station.
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The current schedule—and what it does not prove
| Date or phase | NASA’s current position | What readers should infer |
|---|---|---|
| Through 2030 | NASA says it is committed to fully using and safely operating the ISS. | The ISS remains NASA’s planned platform during the transition period. |
| October 9, 2026 | NASA announced the final commercial-station RFP. | This is the controlling procurement milestone in the current plan. |
| December 8, 2026 | Proposals are due. | Companies will have submitted plans, but submission is not selection or certification. |
| Spring 2027 | NASA expects to make awards. | This is an agency expectation, not a completed award announcement. |
| After ISS retirement | NASA intends to use commercially owned and operated destinations. | The replacement schedule, readiness and continuity of service remain future objectives. |
NASA’s strategy page still contains older language about a Phase 2 announcement in late 2025 and awards in early 2026. Those dates have been superseded for the present procurement by the October 2026 final RFP and its December 2026 and spring 2027 milestones.
What happens to the ISS after 2030
NASA’s published transition plan calls for controlled deorbit after the station’s operating period ends. NASA says its international partners share responsibility for safe deorbit and that it is proceeding with procurement of a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesThe ISS cannot be treated as an indefinitely extendable asset. Its primary structure—including modules, radiators and truss structures—has been exposed to dockings, undockings and repeated orbital thermal cycling. NASA has examined alternatives such as disassembly and return, boosting to a higher orbit, natural uncontrolled reentry and controlled reentry. Its published explanation supports controlled deorbit as the adopted approach.
NASA’s transition FAQ, updated July 18, 2024, reported more than 23 years of continuous human presence in orbit and said assembly missions began in 1998. It cited 27 space-shuttle flights, 13 years of assembly work and 161 spacewalks to illustrate why dismantling and returning the station would be exceptionally difficult. The same FAQ described the ISS as orbiting about 257 miles (415 kilometers) above Earth and weighing more than 945,000 pounds (430,000 kilograms).
Will private stations prevent a gap in low Earth orbit?
NASA says commercially owned and operated stations are planned to be available before ISS deorbit so that research, crew training and other services do not stop. “Planned” is the critical qualification. The cited NASA material does not establish that a commercial station has completed certification, reached orbit or demonstrated the capacity to provide uninterrupted service.
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A gap could arise if development, launch, testing, certification or crew transportation takes longer than expected. NASA’s multi-award approach is intended to preserve options, but it cannot by itself guarantee that two providers—or even one provider—will be ready before the ISS leaves service.
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Which companies and projects are involved?
NASA’s public material describes several different categories of activity. They should not be treated as interchangeable.
| Company or project | NASA’s description | Current significance |
|---|---|---|
| Axiom Space | NASA awarded Axiom a contract in 2020 for at least one habitable module intended to attach to the ISS, with the longer-term goal of becoming a free-flying station. | An ISS-attached-to-free-flying pathway; not evidence that a replacement station is already operating. |
| Orbital Reef | NASA names Blue Origin as a developer of this free-flying station project. | A proposed independent destination in low Earth orbit. |
| Starlab Space | NASA names Starlab as developing a station intended to go directly into low Earth orbit. Northrop Grumman withdrew from its own Space Act Agreement and joined efforts supporting Starlab. | A direct-to-orbit concept rather than an ISS-attached first stage. |
| CCSC-2 capability partners | NASA selected Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space, SpaceX, Special Aerospace Services, ThinkOrbital and Vast in 2023 for technical collaboration and capability advancement. | These selections are not final awards under the October 2026 station-services RFP. |
| Final RFP contractors | Providers must propose end-to-end destination and transportation services, including certification and operations. | Selection and later task orders will determine who advances into the current procurement. |
The most useful comparisons at this stage are whether a concept first attaches to the ISS or goes directly to orbit, whether it is a development project or a capability collaboration, what destination and transportation services it proposes, and how it progresses through testing, certification and operational readiness. NASA’s current sources do not provide enough comparable information to rank station designs, prices, capacity or firm opening dates.
How private astronauts fit into the transition
Private astronaut missions already operate around the ISS, but that activity is not the same as running a replacement commercial station. In January 2026, NASA announced that it had ordered Axiom Mission 5, targeted for no earlier than January 2027 and expected to last up to 14 days.
For that mission, Axiom is to buy services from NASA, including consumables, cargo, storage and other in-orbit resources. NASA is to buy from Axiom the capability to return scientific samples that require cold storage. This is a concrete example of commercial services being delivered through the existing ISS partnership; it is not evidence that Axiom Station or another new destination is operational.
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As commercial stations become available, private astronauts could become one customer category alongside NASA missions, international agencies, researchers and other organizations. The RFP’s requirement for transportation as well as a destination means providers will need an integrated way to move people and cargo, support them in orbit and meet human-safety certification requirements.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What this means for NASA’s role
NASA buys mission capability instead of owning every asset
NASA would specify the services its crews and experiments need, then purchase them through task orders. The agency would remain responsible for mission requirements, astronaut safety and oversight while relying on providers for the station’s commercial operation.
NASA keeps a low Earth orbit training base
Access to a staffed station allows NASA and its partners to train crews, test technologies and conduct microgravity research before or alongside missions farther from Earth. Losing that access before a successor is ready would affect those activities, which is why NASA identifies continuity as a central goal.
NASA redirects attention beyond low Earth orbit
If commercial providers can supply dependable orbital services, NASA expects to concentrate more resources on exploration beyond low Earth orbit, especially lunar and Mars missions. This is a strategic objective, not a statement that NASA will stop participating in low Earth orbit.
What this means for companies
The commercial opportunity is larger than selling occasional seats. A viable provider must combine a habitable destination, transportation, logistics, testing, certification and long-term operations. It also needs customers beyond NASA if the marketplace is to support the station between government missions.
The firm-fixed-price structure shifts substantial cost and performance responsibility to contractors. Multiple early awards can give NASA alternatives, while the later competitive task order creates another decision point before final certification and services. For companies, that means a credible concept alone will not establish revenue, flight readiness or a guaranteed NASA contract.
What this means for researchers and future customers
Researchers may eventually gain access to more than one orbital platform and could buy transportation, laboratory time, storage or other services through commercial providers. Private astronauts could have destinations other than the ISS once a station is certified and operating. However, NASA’s current material does not establish ticket prices, commercial experiment rates, station capacity, opening dates or a ranking among proposed destinations.
Anyone planning a mission should therefore distinguish three milestones: a company’s announced design, NASA’s selection for development or collaboration, and a certified station that is actually accepting customers. Only the last milestone demonstrates operational access.
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- Watch the December 8, 2026 proposal deadline. It shows which plans entered the current competition, not which ones will fly.
- Check for the expected spring 2027 awards. Confirm whether NASA announces at least two early-development contractors and what work each award covers.
- Track design, testing and certification milestones. A station must pass those stages before NASA can rely on it for human missions.
- Look for transportation readiness. The procurement covers destination and transportation services; a station without dependable crew and cargo access cannot replace the ISS’s role.
- Compare actual operating evidence. Launch, docking, crew occupancy and delivered services matter more than an announced concept or an earlier collaboration.
The bottom line for private spaceflight
NASA is trying to create a commercial low Earth orbit marketplace before the ISS is retired. Its current plan is to operate the ISS through 2030, deorbit it in a controlled manner, and purchase destination and transportation services from private providers selected through the October 2026 procurement.
For private spaceflight, that could move the industry from government-hosted missions toward independently operated orbital destinations with multiple customers. But the transition is still in procurement and development. The published schedule does not prove that a successor station will be certified, occupied or available without a gap when the ISS ends service.
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