Trump administration hopes to privatize ISS after 2024
If the US government plans to stop funding the International Space Station at the end of 2024, there's a big question: what happens next? Hand the keys over to the private sector, apparently. The Washington Post has obtained a NASA document outlining a plan to privatize the ISS as part of a Trump administration budge request. The plan would request funding (starting with $150 million in fiscal 2019) to foster "commercial entities and capabilities" that could fill the ISS' role, potentially including "certain elements or capabilities" of the station itself. It's not certain just how the privatization would work, although the US wouldn't be in a rush to abandon the ISS. It would aim for a "smooth and uninterrupted transition" to private outfits, and would ask for plans from industry while preparing a handover plan. This strategy could face plenty of opposition, however, and not just within the US. The ISS was created as a collaboration...