The ISS Will Wind Down. Tiangong Is Ramping Up

China is gearing up to bulk up its space outpost just as the world's biggest one nears retirement. Beijing has confirmed plans to expand its Tiangong space station, "potentially more than doubling its size" to handle more research and foreign partnerships, the South China Morning Post reports by way of state broadcaster CCTV. Tiangong and NASA's International Space Station are currently the only crewed platforms in low Earth orbit, but the ISS is slated to be deorbited in early 2031.

Space.com offers a comparison of the two: At 925,000 pounds, the ISS is about five times the size of Tiangong, which weighs about 170,000 pounds. It has three modules to the ISS' 16, but that number will grow to four, an addition that will change the T-shaped station into a cross-shaped one. That new segment will include multiple docking ports designed to host two additional lab modules, ultimately allowing Tiangong to grow into a six-module complex. China has not said when the expansion will take place.