SpaceX has just sent to the ISS a new way of staying in orbit

The International Space Station (ISS) has been in orbit for over 26 years, housing astronauts at an altitude of 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the earth. But even at this distance, the space station cannot escape the trail of the atmosphere of the earth while the oxygen molecules and other gases collide with it, which makes it lose altitude over time.

For the ISS to retain its orbit status, NASA and its partners carry out the occasional restart maneuver. This is generally done using the propellants of the space station (which are tiny and relatively low) or with the spacecraft for the progression of Russia and the Northrop Grumman cygnus. For the first time, however, and from September, NASA will use the SpaceX Dragon vehicle to help maintain the orbital altitude of the space station.

A boost kit in the trunk

The SpaceX dragon was launched at ISS on Sunday at 2:45 a.m., transporting more than 5,000 pounds of supplies to the orbit laboratory. The mission of reapplementing commercially routine transported a little something extra this time, a system of propellant nestled inside the dragon trunk for a restart demonstration.

Dragon’s Boost Kit will be used to maintain the altitude of the ISS from September through a series of burns planned throughout the fall, pushing the slightly higher massive space station on its orbit.

The SpaceX spaceship, while mooring to the station, will use an independent propellant system of the one used to supply its own engines. Instead, the Boost kit supplies two Draco engines in the spaceship of the spaceship using existing equipment and the design of the propellant system, according to NASA.

Dragon engines are not confronted with the right direction to remove Boost maneuvers; Consequently, the need for additional engines aligned with the ISS speed vector.

Rear -facing engines are connected to propellant tanks filled with hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide, which light up when they come into contact with each other. When it is time to give a little boost to the ISS, the engines will ignite and slightly adjust the altitude of the space station in low terrestrial orbit.

Multiple Reboost Options

NASA and SpaceX tested Dragon’s ability to restart the ISS in November 2024 by a demonstration which lasted about 12 minutes. Dragon managed to adjust the orbit of the 7/100 station from a mile to apogee, the point where it is most distant from the earth, and 7/10 of a thousand in perigee, when it is closest to the earth.

“By testing the capacity of the spaceship to restart and, possibly, at the Attitude Control, the program of the International Space Station of NASA will have several spacecraft to provide these capacities for the orbital complex,” NASA wrote in a statement at the time.

The dragon spacecraft will remain moored until December – the longest period for a freight mission – in order to withdraw the restart maneuvers in the coming months. The boost kit used on this mission is a smaller version of One SpaceX is currently developing for the final desorbit of the space station.

The ISS should retire by 2030, and NASA plans to use a dragon spacecraft to make a series of desirebit burns that will lower the altitude of the space station until it burns in the earth’s atmosphere. Until the moment come for its imminent destiny, the ISS will be able to enjoy a little boost of dragon.