NASA has stopped using ThinkPad laptops aboard the International Space Station, closing out a run that lasted 33 years, according to CNBC Indonesia. The agency has moved its astronauts to HP ZBook machines instead, the outlet reports.
The change ends a long association between NASA's crewed spaceflight program and the ThinkPad line. Multiple Indonesian outlets, including Sindonews Tekno and Harian Jogja, reported the same shift, noting the 33-year span of ThinkPad use on the station. Harian Jogja specifically identified the HP ZBook as the replacement hardware now in service with astronauts.
CNBC Indonesia framed the decision as a brand change, though the reporting summarized here does not detail the specific technical or procurement reasons behind it. What is clear from the coverage is the scale of the transition: a laptop family that had been the mainstay of orbital operations for more than three decades is no longer the agency's machine of choice.
The ThinkPad's tenure on the station made it one of the most visible pieces of computing hardware in human spaceflight, appearing in crew photographs and video from orbit over the years. Its retirement from that role marks a notable break with a long-standing piece of NASA's onboard equipment lineup.
It remains to be seen how the HP ZBook performs over the long term in the station's environment, and whether NASA or its partners offer further detail on why the switch was made.