Elon Musk has stirred attention by stating that it is time to prepare for shutting down and deorbiting the International Space Station (ISS).

The ISS was built in 1998 and has been home to astronauts since 2000. It is the result of collaboration between NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Russia’s Roscosmos. For more than two decades, the ISS has played a crucial role in testing living and working conditions in space, paving the way for missions to the Moon and Mars.

However, billionaire Elon Musk no longer sees significant value in maintaining the ISS. On X (formerly Twitter), he wrote:

“It is time to begin preparations for deorbiting the ISS. It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility. Let’s go to Mars.”

In another comment, he emphasized that the decision lies with the U.S. President, but he recommends shutting down the ISS within the next two years, by 2026.

Currently, NASA and its partners plan to keep the ISS operational until 2030 before using a special vehicle—developed by SpaceX—to control its descent back to Earth. However, Musk wants to accelerate the timeline. Russia, one of the ISS partners, has only committed to maintaining the station until 2028.

Musk has long set his sights on sending humans to Mars. He believes that returning to the Moon is unnecessary and merely a “distraction,” insisting that we should go directly to Mars.

At present, Musk is leading a federal audit under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has resulted in thousands of layoffs across various agencies. This shows that he has significant influence over U.S. space policy.

NASA responded to Musk’s statement: “We continue to use the ISS and future commercial space stations to conduct groundbreaking scientific research, as well as to train for crewed missions to the Moon and Mars. We look forward to learning more about the Trump administration’s plans for our agency.”

With President Trump’s backing, Musk’s proposal may not be easily dismissed.