"NASA and SpaceX have successfully raised the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) with a 15-minute burn of the Draco thrusters located in the trunk of the Dragon freighter. The latest effort came after operators manually aborted a scheduled 19-minute, 22-second burn less than four minutes in when the Draco thruster fuel tanks failed to swap as planned This time all went well, said NASA, setting the stage for Soyuz crew swap operations later in 2025."
"Despite air leaks and aging modules, separating the Russian side isn't practical - the station's main computers, supplied by the European Space Agency, are located in the Russian Zvezda module. While the ISS has many more computers distributed around the complex, replacing all the functionality contained within the Russian segment, including attitude control, would take more than a set of Draco thrusters in the trunk of a Dragon freighter."
A 15-minute burn of Draco thrusters in a Dragon freighter trunk successfully raised the ISS orbit after a prior attempt was manually aborted when thruster fuel tanks failed to swap. The successful reboost enables planned Soyuz crew swap operations, with MS-28 due to launch from Baikonur on November 27, 2025, carrying NASA astronaut Christopher Williams for a stay through mid-2026. The reboost capability reduces U.S. dependence on Russia for orbit maintenance, but the U.S. and Russian segments remain tightly integrated because key systems, including main computers in the Zvezda module, would be difficult to replace. The ISS faces aging issues, potential hatch closures if leaks worsen, and a planned controlled reentry in 2030 contingent on a suitable vehicle by 2029; recent Dragon demonstrations suggest SpaceX is making progress.
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