Back in November 1998, the International Space Station (ISS) launched, reaching orbit and then being assembled module by module, before astronauts started occupying it two years later, after the turn of the millennium.

Since this time, there has always been astronauts in space, with crew crossover ensuring not only a comprehensive handover, but continuous human occupation.

In total, 290 astronauts from 26 countries across the world have lived on the ISS, conducting over 4,000 scientific experiments in the orbiting laboratory.

This was all set to come to an end in 2030, with the ISS being decommissioned and splashed down into the South Pacific Ocean (more precisely, into the ‘spacecraft cemetery’ known as Point Nemo, the furthest oceanic point from land.

But thanks to a recent bill which has passed through the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the ISS may have a few more years left in orbit.

While the initial reason for decommissioning the ISS were because it has far outlived its planned lifespan, and thus costs a lot in both repairs and risk to the astronauts onboard.

However, this bill changes things quite significantly. That’s because Senate are set to debate the terms that the ISS can only be deorbited once a viable and functional replacement is up and running:

“Once a commercial space station has demonstrated for a full year that it has the capabilities sufficient to support scientific research, technology development, national laboratory functions and commercial activities previously conducted aboard the ISS, NASA will be authorized to transfer operations to this station and initiate procedures to deorbit the ISS.”

What does that mean for the ISS – and for NASA too?

Well primarily that they are in a race against the clock to ensure that a fully functional orbiting laboratory is in space long before the ISS becomes a safety risk or financially prohibitive.

However, the bill – known as the NASA Authorization Act of 2026 does still need to be passed – and given the bill seeks to reverse the decisions by DOGE and the Trump Administration to cut vital positions, projects and budgets, it is important that they do.

For now though, the ISS keeps orbiting, and keeps hosting humans in space.

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