ISS before the end of life

How to let a giant space station burn up

The spacecraft that will destroy the ISS in a few years' time is being built by Elon Musk's space company SpaceX - and has some special features.(Bild: SpaceX)

The clock is ticking on the International Space Station (ISS): Humanity's outpost in space is set to remain in operation until 2030, at which point the station will have to be "buried". This is no easy task - the ISS is 400 kilometers away from Earth and weighs 450 tons.

The sheer dimensions of the largest man-made object in space also suggest that it will not be a piece of cake: At almost 110 meters, the ISS is as long as a soccer pitch, while its width and height amount to 80 to 90 meters. That's 1200 cubic meters of living space in space, orbiting the earth every 94 minutes. At least until a high-tech spacecraft from the USA completes the flight of the ISS. And this is how it works.