Save the International Space Station and give it to the private sector

Several issues come to mind;

1. Maintenance.....the service life of those multiple modules have an expiration date for a reason....eventually they become too worn and dangerous to operate; space is a very harsh environment, and you cant just pull the ISS into a Jiffy lube for a few repairs.

2. Profitability....what corporation is going to want to pour about 3 Billion per year into its operation, resupply, ground support and upkeep without seeing a return on investment?

3. Even with significant depreciation, the cost to build the ISS exceeded 100 Billion....slashing the price by 50% will still leave you with a 50 Billion price tag....how may tech companies will pony up that much money for a system that is nearly 20 years old?

Renae said:

You type this on a corperate built computer, run for profit, it's transmitted on corporate controlled internet which was advanced by the military...

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Chinese chips, Chinese keyboard, and I don't speak Chinese. Your allegory is flawed.
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Fantôme said:

So why not sell it? What would it hurt? If some company or consortium can find a use for it and will ante up to buy it and pay to move it... what's the downside?

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Who is going to buy it?

SpaceX's ultimate goal is to go to Mars, the ISS wont help in that regards.

Bezos's Blue Origin plans to make tours to the moon, ISS wont help in that either.

There is no profit incentive for a private firm to buy it.

DaveFagan said:

Chinese chips, Chinese keyboard, and I don't speak Chinese. Your allegory is flawed.
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Not at all, you just choose when your hate matters and when it doesn't. Like a Rich Christian, only certain texts of the Bible apply right?