The International Space Station as seen from NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavour in 2010. Credit: NASA The International Space Station, weighing in at nearly 1 million pounds, will meet a dramatic death. After breaking apart and largely vaporizing while falling through Earth's atmosphere, the leftover charred chunks will plunge into a remote ocean, and then sink to the seafloor. The grand deorbit of the aging laboratory will happen around 2030, and NASA has revealed how. The agency picked the successful rocket and space exploration company SpaceX to develop and deliver the "U.S. Deorbit Vehicle" that will attach to the station — which is the largest single structure in space ever built. The hefty $843 million contract requires that the vehicle bring the ISS down to Earth in a controlled, safe manner, specifically avoiding populated regions. Taking the whole behemoth structure down at once is necessary. A piece-by-piece deconstruction would be highly complex, likely dangerous for crew, and present a host of engineering hurdles. "The station wasn't designed to be taken apart," Ken Bowersox, the associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said at a press conference on July 17. SEE ALSO: If a scary asteroid will actually strike Earth, here's how you'll know - SpaceX deorbit vehicle brings space station down: The SpaceX vehicle will first fire its thrusters to push the space station into the desired orbit around Earth. Then comes the big push. Over the final week, before reentering, the craft will fire multiple burns. Ultimately, the final thrust must be powerful enough to fly the entire station and ensure it terminates in the desired remote location, NASA's Weigel said. - Splashdown: The remnants of the space station may plummet into the ocean around January 2031. With an object the size of the space station breaking apart while traveling at blistering speeds, the actual footprint of falling objects — ranging in size from a microwave to a sedan — can't exactly be tiny. But it can be relatively narrow and controlled. If all goes as planned, the debris will fall into a slim band some 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) over the ocean. That's why choosing a remote ocean region is essential. Fortunately, oceans dominate Earth's surface. Enjoy the space station while you still can. The orbiting laboratory makes 16 orbits around Earth every day, and at night you can glimpse the station moving rapidly across the dark sky. "I'm glad it's going to be flying for a while longer," Bowersox, also a former NASA astronaut, said. Topics