Signalling a new era, a top NASA official has said that a commercial spaceflight company may take over the International Space Station (ISS) to carry on key research in the low-Earth orbit.
In a video showing a panel discussion on NASA's plans towards a mission to Mars, Bill Hill, Deputy Associate Administrator of NASA's exploration systems development division, said the US agency is exploring to hand over the international orbiting laboratory to a commercial entity in the next decade.
“NASA's trying to develop economic development in low-Earth orbit. Ultimately, our desire is to hand the space station over to either a commercial entity or some other commercial capability so that research can continue in low-Earth orbit. We figure that will be in the mid-20s,” technology website The Verge quoted Hill as saying on Monday.