Orbiting observatory, the International Space Station (ISS), will be plunged into the Pacific Ocean after its mission ends in around 2020, Russia's Federal Space Agency said.

The decision to crash the massive observatory in the Pacific Ocean has been taken to ensure that no junk is left in space.

Vitaly Davydov, deputy chief of Roskosmos space agency said, "After it completes its existence, we will be forced to sink the ISS. It cannot be left in orbit, it's too complex, too heavy an object, it can leave behind lots of rubbish.”

Space junk has become a big hazard to satellites and other missions in Earth's orbit. Russia’s previous space station, called Mir, had also met a similar fate.

However, there are chances that the life of the ISS could be extended to 2028. The ISS was originally scheduled to stop operating in 2013, but an agreement was hit to keep the station operating beyond that.

It took 13 years for participating countries to assemble the $100 billion project in space. Construction of the station was started in 1998. NASA and its partners are utilizing of the orbiting lab for science & technology research.

The ISS is a joint venture among the US, Russia, Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency that represent ten European countries.