The International Space Station (ISS) is losing air and its future hangs in the balance as NASA and Roscosmos disagree on how to solve the growing problem.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, currently aboard the ISS, is among the crew facing this growing crisis, which some fear could threaten the station’s ability to operate for its expected lifespan.

The leak, first detected in 2019, comes from the PrK module, a Russian segment connecting the Zvezda service module to the rest of the station. While the cosmonauts worked to minimize its impact by closing the module when not in use,

NASA reports that the leak has intensified. Air escapes at a rate of 2 to 2.5 pounds per day, with occasional spikes, such as the 3.7 pound loss recorded in April.

NASA officials warn that the leak could cause a “catastrophic failure” if nothing is done to fix it. Bob Cabana, chairman of NASA’s ISS advisory committee, told a public meeting that the problem poses a significant risk to the station’s goal of operating until 2030.

Meanwhile, Russian space agency Roscosmos has downplayed the severity of the leak, insisting that the leak does not jeopardize the future of the station. The disagreement has delayed a unified response, although both agencies agree to close the segment if air loss becomes “untenable.” The question of what constitutes this threshold, however, remains unresolved.

Experts attribute the leak to decades of wear and tear on the ISS, which has been continuously occupied since 2000. Mechanical stress, micrometeoroid impacts and aging infrastructure are likely to blame for the tiny cracks.

NASA has taken precautionary measures, including preparing additional “paddle seats” on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for possible emergency evacuations. “The station is not young,” said astronaut Michael Barratt, acknowledging the challenges of maintaining a 25-year-old structure in space.

The ISS, a symbol of international cooperation, is expected to remain operational until 2030, after which it will be deorbited into the Earth’s atmosphere. Without plans for a replacement, the current leak raises urgent questions about the future of human presence in low Earth orbit.

For now, Sunita Williams and her teammates continue their mission aboard the aging station, even as the cracks – literally and figuratively – become harder to ignore.