Image Courtesy: NASA

NASA’s plan to retire the International Space Station (ISS) by guiding it into a remote region of the Pacific Ocean is drawing criticism from environmental experts, who say the agency has not fully addressed the potential impact on marine ecosystems.

Under NASA’s current timeline, the ISS will begin a gradual descent in 2028 through a combination of atmospheric drag and controlled maneuvers by its Russian segment. In 2029, a SpaceX-built U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) will dock with the station and use 46 Draco thrusters to steer the aging laboratory into a controlled reentry, ultimately directing debris toward Point Nemo, a remote area of the South Pacific commonly known as the world’s “spacecraft cemetery.”

The debate gained momentum after a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office examined NASA’s strategy for transitioning from the ISS to future commercial space stations. The report also outlined the agency’s deorbit plan, noting that while much of the station will burn up during reentry, denser components are expected to survive and settle on the ocean floor.

The Ocean Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on marine conservation, argues that this approach exposes a gap in international law. Its president, Mark Spalding, says space agencies currently face no legal obligation to clean up debris or assess long-term environmental damage when controlled reentries are directed toward international waters.

Spalding acknowledged that targeting Point Nemo minimizes the risk to people on land but warned that the ocean’s remoteness should not be mistaken for an absence of ecological value. He questioned what effect large fragments of the football field-sized station could have on deep-sea ecosystems, adding that scientists still lack sufficient data to answer that question.

He also raised concerns about possible atmospheric impacts during the station’s fiery descent, noting that the ISS will be the largest human-made structure ever intentionally reentered through Earth’s atmosphere. The full environmental consequences, he argues, remain poorly understood.

The Ocean Foundation believes the mission could fall under the recently negotiated High Seas Treaty, which calls for environmental impact assessments when activities may affect marine areas beyond national jurisdiction. Whether NASA’s deorbit plan will be required to meet those standards remains uncertain, but the proposal is likely to face increasing scrutiny as the station approaches retirement.