A draft budget produced by the Trump administration suggests that funding for the International Space Station will end in 2025. If such a stipulation remains in the final budget, it means NASA will need to find up to $4 billion a year from other sources if it wishes to continue sending astronauts to the station and carrying out experiments there.

The draft budget was seen by The Verge. Although only a draft, the final version will be released on February 12. At that point Congress will carry out a scrutiny and approval review, meaning even if the proposed end to funding is present it could still be removed or at least tweaked.

The station is by no means cheap to run. Since 1993 the US has spent over $87 billion to build and operate it, with ongoing costs until 2024 estimated at between $3 and $4 billion per year. That means by 2024 the US will have spent around $115 billion. In return, we have access to a unique laboratory floating above the Earth where experiments can be carried out in microgravity.

Last year, NASA was asked to come up with alternative funding for ISS as part of the NASA Transition Authorization Act signed by President Trump. It's unclear how NASA could do that, but it would free up that $4 billion a year to be spent instead on deep space exploration and another visit to the Moon.

For now, the future of ISS looks very uncertain beyond 2024. I can't help but feel it has a much more private future ahead, with companies such as SpaceX potentially playing a role in its ongoing operation. Losing ISS completely without a replacement already being operational would surely be a mistake as far as science and space research are concerned.