Order Code IB93017
CRS Issue Brief for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Space Stations
Updated November 17, 2004
Marcia S. Smith
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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CONTENTS
SUMMARY
MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Introduction
The Space Station Program: 1984-1993
Space Station Freedom
1993 Redesign — the Clinton Administration Restructuring
The International Space Station (ISS): 1993-Present
ISS Design, Cost, Schedule, and Lifetime
September 1993-January 2001: the Clinton Administration
2001-Present: the George W. Bush Administration
Risks and Benefits of Russian Participation, and the Iran Nonproliferation Act (INA)
Congressional Action
FY2004
FY2005
International Partners
The Original Partners: Europe, Canada, and Japan
Russia
Key Issues For Congressional Consideration
Increased Dependence on Russia and Other Impacts of the Columbia Tragedy and the
President’s Exploration Initiative
Current Operations
Changes Due to the Exploration Initiative, Including the “4-year Gap”
Cost and Cost Effectiveness
Operations and Commercialization Issues
LEGISLATION

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Space Stations
SUMMARY
Congress continues to debate NASA’s
but not as a partner. Except for money paid to
International Space Station (ISS), a perma-
Russia, there is no exchange of funds among
nently occupied facility in Earth orbit where
the partners. Europe, Canada, and Japan
astronauts live and conduct research.
collectively expect to spend about $11 billion
Congress appropriated $33.5 billion for the
of their own money. A reliable figure for
program from FY1985-2004. The FY2005
Russian expenditures is not available.
request is $2.412 billion ($1.863 billion for
construction and operation, plus $549 million
In 1993, when the current space station
for research).
design was adopted, NASA said it would cost
$17.4 billion for construction; no more than
The space station is being assembled in
$2.1 billion per year. The estimate did not
Earth orbit. Almost 90 launches of the U.S.
include launch or other costs. NASA ex-
space shuttle and Russian launch vehicles
ceeded the $2.1 billion figure in FY1998, and
were originally planned to take the various
the $17.4 billion estimate grew to $24.1-$26.4
segments, crews, and cargo into orbit; more
billion. Congress legislated spending caps on
than two dozen have taken place already. ISS
part of the program in 2000. The cost esti-
has been permanently occupied by successive
mate then grew by almost another $5 billion,
“Expedition” crews rotating on 4-6 month
leading NASA (at White House direction) to
shifts since November 2000. The Expedition
cancel or indefinitely defer some hardware to
10 crew is now on board. Cost growth and
stay within the cap.
schedule delays have characterized the pro-
gram since its inception. The grounding of the
Controversial since the program began in
space shuttle fleet in the wake of the February
1984, the space station has been repeatedly
2003 Columbia tragedy is further affecting
redesigned and rescheduled, often for cost-
schedule, operations, and cost. Most of the
growth reasons. Congress has been concerned
remaining ISS segments are designed to be
about the space station for that and other
launched by the shuttle and therefore
reasons. Twenty-two attempts to terminate the
construction is suspended. President Bush’s
program in NASA funding bills, however,
January 2004 exploration initiative also is
were defeated (3 in the 106th Congress, 4 in
expected to affect the ISS program by curtail-
the 105th Congress, 5 in the 104th, 5 in the
ing the shuttle program in 2010 and changing
103rd, and 5 in the 102nd). Three other at-
the focus of U.S. research aboard the facility
tempts in broader legislation in the 103rd
to only that which supports his goal of return-
Congress also failed.
ing humans to the Moon and someday jour-
neying to Mars and “worlds beyond.”
Current congressional debate focuses on
the impact of the space shuttle Columbia
Canada, Japan, and several European
tragedy on the ISS program and the future of
countries became partners with NASA in
the program in light of President Bush’s new
building the space station in 1988; Russia
exploration initiative.
joined in 1993. Brazil also is participating,
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MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
The “Expedition 10” crew (American Leroy Chiao and Russian Salizhan Sharipov)
continues its work aboard the International Space Station (ISS). While the U.S. space
shuttle fleet is grounded, Russian Soyuz spacecraft are being used to ferry crews to and from
ISS, and Russian Progress spacecraft deliver cargo. NASA hopes to return the shuttle to
flight status between May 12 and June 3, 2005.
President Bush announced a new initiative in January 2004 (see CRS Report RS21720)
that would focus NASA’s efforts on human exploration of space beyond low Earth orbit.
The new policy would terminate the space shuttle program after construction of ISS is
completed, anticipated in 2010. From 2010 until at least 2014, when a new U.S. Crew
Exploration Vehicle is available to take crews to Earth orbit, NASA would be reliant on
Russia to take U.S. crews back and forth to ISS. No agreement has been negotiated with
Russia as to the terms of Russia providing this service. The cargo capacity of the shuttle,
which is much greater than Russia’s Progress, also would no longer be available. Cargo
would be taken to ISS using U.S. commercial launch vehicles, and other partners’ launch
vehicles and spacecraft. NASA would redirect its ISS research program to focus on life
sciences questions related to sending humans beyond Earth orbit. A NASA budget chart
shows NASA ending its involvement in ISS by FY2017.
The FY2005 request for the ISS is $2.412 billion ($1.863 billion for construction and
operations, plus $549 million for research). The $1.863 billion includes a new $140 million
line item, ISS Crew/Cargo Services, to fund alternatives to the shuttle for taking crew and
cargo to and from ISS. NASA’s total FY2005 budget request is $16.2 billion. The House
Appropriations Committee’s version of the FY2005 VA-HUD-IA appropriations bill (H.R.
5041, H.Rept. 108-674), which includes NASA, cut NASA’s total request by $1.1 billion.
Among the cuts are $190 million from ISS construction and operations (including $70
million from Crew/Cargo), and $103 million from bioastronautics research. The Senate
Appropriations Committee (S. 2825, S.Rept. 108-353) cut $260 million (including all $140
million from Crew/Cargo), although it increased the total NASA budget to $16.4 billion.
The Senate Commerce Committee ordered reported a FY2005-2009 NASA authorization bill
(S. 2541) that includes the requested level of funding for ISS.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Introduction
NASA launched its first space station, Skylab, in 1973. Three crews were sent to live
and work there in 1973-74. It remained in orbit, unoccupied, until it reentered Earth’s
atmosphere in July 1979, disintegrating over Australia and the Indian Ocean. Skylab was
never intended to be permanently occupied. The goal of a permanently occupied space
station with crews rotating on a regular basis was high on NASA’s list for the post-Apollo
years. In 1969, Vice President Agnew’s Space Task Group recommended a permanent space
station and a reusable space transportation system (the space shuttle) to service it as the core
of NASA’s program in the 1970s and 1980s. Budget constraints forced NASA to choose to
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build the space shuttle first. When NASA declared the shuttle “operational” in 1982, it was
ready to initiate the space station program.
In his January 25, 1984 State of the Union address, President Reagan directed NASA
to develop a permanently occupied space station within a decade and to invite other countries
to participate in the project. On July 20, 1989, the 20th anniversary of the first Apollo
landing on the Moon, President George H. W. Bush gave a major space policy address in
which he voiced his support for the space station as the cornerstone of a long-range civilian
space program eventually leading to bases on the Moon and Mars.
President Clinton was strongly supportive of the space station program, and
dramatically changed its character in 1993 by adding Russia as a partner to this already
international endeavor. Adding Russia made the space station part of the U.S. foreign policy
agenda to encourage Russia to abide by agreements to stop the proliferation of ballistic
missile technology, and to support Russia economically and politically.
President George W. Bush made a major space policy address on January 14, 2004 in
which he said that NASA would shift its focus to human exploration of space beyond low
Earth orbit. Included in the new plan is termination of the space shuttle program after
construction of the space station is completed, now anticipated for 2010, and refocusing the
space station research program to support that goal. The President said the United States
would fulfill its commitments to its partners in the ISS program, although the details of how
that will be accomplished without the space shuttle have not been announced.
The Space Station Program: 1984-1993
NASA began the current program to build a space station in 1984 (FY1985). In 1988,
the space station was named Freedom. Following a major redesign in 1993, NASA
announced that the Freedom program had ended and a new program begun, though NASA
asserts that 75% of the design of the “new” station is from Freedom. The new program is
simply referred to as the International Space Station (ISS). Individual ISS modules have
various names, and the entire facility is informally referred to as ISS or “Space Station
Alpha.” ISS is a laboratory in space for conducting experiments in near-zero gravity
(“microgravity”). A broadly based research program had been planned for ISS, but President
Bush’s January 2004 exploration initiative would limit U.S. research on ISS to that which
is needed to support the goal of returning human to the Moon and someday sending them to
Mars and “worlds beyond.” From FY1985 through FY2004, Congress appropriated
approximately $33.5 billion for the space station program (see table later in this report).
Space Station Freedom
When NASA began the space station program in 1984, it said the program would cost
$8 billion (FY1984 dollars) for research and development (R&D — essentially the cost for
building the station without launch costs) through completion of assembly. From FY1985-
1993, Congress appropriated $11.4 billion to NASA for the Freedom program. Most of the
funding went for designing and redesigning the station over those years. Little hardware was
built and none was launched. Several major redesigns were made. A 1991 redesign evoked
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concerns about the amount of science that could be conducted on the scaled-down space
station. Both the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the
Space Studies Board (SSB) of the National Research Council concluded that materials
science research could not justify building the space station, and questioned how much life
sciences research could be supported, criticizing the lack of firm plans for flying a centrifuge,
considered essential to this research. NASA subsequently agreed to launch a centrifuge.
Cost estimates for Freedom varied widely depending on when they were made and what
was included. Freedom was designed to be operated for 30 years. As the program ended
in 1993, NASA’s estimate was $90 billion (current dollars): $30 billion through the end of
construction, plus $60 billion to operate it for 30 years. The General Accounting Office
(GAO) estimated the total cost at $118 billion, including 30 years of operations.
In 1988, after three years of negotiations, Japan, Canada and nine European countries
under the aegis of the European Space Agency (ESA) agreed to be partners in the space
station program. A government-to-government Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) was
signed in September, and Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between NASA and its
counterpart agencies were signed then or in 1989. The partners agreed to provide hardware
for the space station at their own expense, a total of $8 billion at the time.
1993 Redesign — the Clinton Administration Restructuring
In early 1993, as President Clinton took office, NASA revealed $1 billion in cost growth
on the Freedom program. The President gave NASA 90 days to develop a new, less costly,
design with a reduced operational period of 10 years. A new design, Alpha, emerged on
September 7, 1993, which NASA estimated would cost $19.4 billion. It would have used
some hardware bought from Russia, but Russia was not envisioned as a partner. Five days
earlier, however, the White House announced it had reached preliminary agreement with
Russia to build a joint space station. Now called the International Space Station (ISS), it
superseded the September 7 Alpha design. NASA asserted it would be a more capable space
station and be ready sooner at less cost to the United States. Compared with the September
7 Alpha design, ISS was to be completed one year earlier, have 25% more usable volume,
42.5 kilowatts more electrical power, and accommodate 6 instead of 4 crew members.
In 1993, President Clinton pledged to request $10.5 billion ($2.1 billion a year) for
FY1994-1998. NASA said the new station would cost $17.4 billion to build, not including
money already expended on the Freedom program. That estimate was derived from the
$19.4 billion estimate for the September 7 Alpha design minus $2 billion that NASA said
would be saved by having Russia in the program. The $2.1 billion and $17.4 billion figures
became known as “caps,” though they were not set in law. (See Cost Caps below).
The International Space Station (ISS): 1993-Present
The International Space Station program thus began in 1993, with Russia joining the
United States, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The 1993 and subsequent agreements with Russia
established three phases of space station cooperation and the payment to Russia of $400
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million, which grew to $473 million. (NASA transferred about $800 million to Russia for
space station cooperation through this and other contracts.)
During Phase I (1995-1998), seven U.S. astronauts remained on Russia’s space station
Mir for long duration (several month) missions with Russian cosmonauts, Russian
cosmonauts flew on the U.S. space shuttle seven times, and nine space shuttle missions
docked with Mir to exchange crews and deliver supplies. Repeated system failures and two
life-threatening emergencies on Mir in 1997 raised questions about whether NASA should
leave more astronauts on Mir, but NASA decided Mir was sufficiently safe to continue the
program. Phases II and III involve construction of the International Space Station itself, and
blend into each other. Phase II began in 1998 and was completed in July 2001; Phase III is
underway.
ISS Design, Cost, Schedule, and Lifetime
ISS is being built by a partnership among the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and
Canada. The 1988 Intergovernmental Agreement was renegotiated after Russia joined the
program. The new version was signed in 1998. The IGA is a treaty in all the countries
except the United States, where it is an Executive Agreement. The IGA is implemented
through Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between NASA and its counterpart agencies.
Brazil and NASA have a bilateral agreement. Boeing is the U.S. prime contractor.
NASA originally stated that ISS would be operated for 10 years after assembly was
completed, with a possibility for 5 additional years if the research was considered
worthwhile. Using the original schedule, assembly would have been completed in 2002,
with operations at least through 2012. The completion of assembly slipped to 2006, but
President Bush restructured the space station program in 2001, and it was not clear when
assembly would be “completed.” NASA briefing charts in March 2003 showed space station
operations possibly continuing until 2022. In January 2004, President Bush made a major
space policy address in which he called for NASA to redirect its human space flight program
towards returning humans to the Moon and going to Mars. A NASA budget chart released
in connection with the speech shows NASA ending its space station activities in FY2017.
ISS segments are launched into space on U.S. or Russian launch vehicles and assembled
in orbit. The space station is composed of a multitude of modules, solar arrays to generate
electricity, remote manipulator systems, and other elements that are too numerous to describe
here. Details can be found at [http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/home/index.html]. Six major
modules are now in orbit. The first two were launched in 1998: Zarya (“Sunrise,” with
guidance, navigation, and control systems) and Unity (a “node” connecting other modules).
Next was Zvezda (“Star,” the crew’s living quarters) in 2000. Destiny (a U.S. laboratory),
Quest (an airlock), and Pirs (“Pier,” a docking compartment) arrived in 2001. Among the
other modules that will be added are laboratory modules built by Russia, Europe, and Japan,
and two more “nodes” built by Europe. (Zarya counts as a U.S. module because NASA paid
Russia to build it. Some of the European- and Japanese-built modules count as U.S. modules
because they are built under barter agreements with NASA where Europe and Japan produce
hardware NASA needs instead of paying cash to NASA for launch and other ISS-related
services.) Ordinarily, the U.S. space shuttle takes crews and cargo back and forth to ISS.
As noted elsewhere, the shuttle system is currently grounded. Russian Soyuz spacecraft also
take crews to and from ISS, and Russian Progress spacecraft deliver cargo, but cannot return
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anything to Earth (the spacecraft is not designed to survive reentry into the Earth’s
atmosphere). A Soyuz is always attached to the station as a lifeboat in case of an emergency.
The schedule for launching segments and crews is called the “assembly sequence” and
has been revised many times. At the end of the Clinton Administration, the assembly
sequence showed completion of assembly (“assembly complete”) in April 2006. The most
recent assembly sequence is being revised because of the Columbia tragedy. Space station
construction is suspended until the shuttle returns to flight.
“Expedition” crews have occupied ISS on a 4-6 month rotating basis since November
2000. Originally the crews had three members (two Russians and one American, or two
Americans and one Russian), with an expectation that crew size would grow to six or seven
once assembly was completed. Crew size is temporarily reduced to two (one American, one
Russian) while the U.S. shuttle is grounded in order to reduce resupply requirements. The
number of astronauts who can live on the space station is limited in part by how many can
be returned to Earth in an emergency by lifeboats docked to the station. Currently, only
Russian Soyuz spacecraft are available as lifeboats. Each Soyuz can hold three people,
limiting crew size to three if only one Soyuz is attached. Each Soyuz must be replaced every
six months. The replacement missions are called “taxi” flights since the crews bring a new
Soyuz up to ISS and bring the old one back to Earth. Therefore, under normal conditions,
the Expedition crews are regularly visited by taxi crews, and by the space shuttle bringing
up additional ISS segments or exchanging Expedition crews. During the current period of
no shuttle flights, Expedition crews are taken back and forth on the “taxi” flights.
NASA planned to build a U.S. Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) for at least four more crew
members. The CRV would have had a lifetime of three years, instead of six months like the
Soyuz, reducing operational costs. NASA also planned to build a Habitation Module to
accommodate the larger crew, and a Propulsion Module to provide fuel in case Russia was
not able to provide all the Progress spacecraft it promised. Europe also was to provide Node
3, another connection point between modules. As discussed below, the Bush Administration
canceled or deferred these ISS elements in 2001, then decided to build an enhanced CRV
called the Orbital Space Plane (OSP), but later canceled it. Node 3 was restored to the
program in 2004.
September 1993-January 2001: the Clinton Administration.
Cost Growth. From FY1994-FY2001, the cost estimate for building ISS grew from
$17.4 billion to $24.1-26.4 billion. The $17.4 billion (called its “development cost,”
“construction cost,” or “R&D cost”) covered FY1994 through completion of assembly, then
scheduled for June 2002. It did not include launch costs, operational costs after completion
of assembly, civil service costs, or other costs. NASA estimated the program’s life-cycle
cost (all costs, including funding spent prior to 1993) from FY1985 through FY2012 at $72.3
billion. A more recent, comparable, NASA life-cycle estimate is not available. In 1998,
GAO estimated the life-cycle cost at $95.6 billion (GAO/NSIAD-98-147).
Cost growth first emerged publicly in March 1996 when then-NASA Administrator
Daniel Goldin gave the space station program manager control of money allocated for (and
previously overseen by) the science offices at NASA for space station research. Congress
gave NASA approval to transfer $177 million from those science accounts to space station
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construction in the FY1997 VA-HUD-IA appropriations act (P.L. 104-204). A similar
transfer was approved for FY1996 ($50 million). NASA changed its accounting methods
so future transfers would not require congressional action, and transferred $235 million from
space station science into construction in FY1998. (“Space station science” funding is for
scientific activities aboard the space station. It is separate from NASA’s other “space
science” funding, such as Mars exploration, astrophysics, or earth sciences.)
One factor in the cost growth was schedule slippage related to Russia’s Zvezda module.
As insurance against further Zvezda delays, or a launch or docking failure, NASA decided
to build an “Interim Control Module” (ICM). To cover cost growth associated with the
schedule delay and ICM, NASA requested permission to move $200 million in FY1997 from
the space shuttle and payload utilization and operations accounts to the space station
program, and to transfer $100 million in FY1998 from unidentified NASA programs to the
space station program. The appropriations committees approved transferring the $200
million in FY1997, but not the FY1998 funding.

In March 1998, NASA announced that the estimate for building the space station had
grown from $17.4 billion to $21.3 billion. In April 1998, an independent task force
concluded that the space station’s cost through assembly complete could be $24.7 billion.
Mr. Goldin initially refused to endorse the $24.7 billion estimate, but by 2000, NASA’s own
estimate had grown to $24.1-$26.4 billion.
Cost Caps. The $2.1 billion per year figure the White House and Congress agreed
to spend on the space station, and NASA’s $17.4 billion estimate to build the station, became
known as “caps,” although they were not set in law. Both were exceeded in 1997-1998. As
costs continued to rise, Congress voted to legislate caps on certain parts of the ISS program
in the FY2000-2002 NASA authorization act (P.L. 106-391). The caps are $25 billion for
development, plus $17.7 billion for associated shuttle launches. The act also authorizes an
additional $5 billion for development and $3.5 billion for associated shuttle launches in case
of specified contingencies. The caps do not apply to operations, research, or crew return
activities after the space station is “substantially” complete, defined as when development
costs consume 5% or less of the annual space station budget. GAO reported in April 2004
that it could not verify whether NASA is complying with the caps because NASA cannot
provide the data GAO requires, and NASA did not comply with the law’s reporting
requirements in its FY2005 budget request documentation (GAO-04-648R).
2001-Present: the George W. Bush Administration.
Cost Growth. As President Bush took office, NASA revealed substantial additional
cost growth. In 2000, NASA’s estimate of the remaining cost to build ISS was $8 billion
(FY2002 to FY2006). In January 2001, however, it announced that an additional $4.02
billion was needed. That figure grew to $4.8 billion by June, and the IMCE task force
(discussed below) said another $366 million in growth was discovered between August and
October. Those increases would have raised the cost to over $30 billion, 72% above the
1993 estimate, and $5 billion above the legislated cap. NASA explained that program
managers had underestimated the complexity of building and operating the station. The Bush
Administration signaled it supported the legislated cap, would not provide additional funds,
and NASA would have to find what it needed from within its Human Space Flight account.
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“Core Complete” Configuration. In February 2001, the Bush Administration
announced it would cancel or defer some ISS hardware to stay within the cap and control
space station costs. It canceled the Propulsion Module, and indefinitely deferred the
Habitation Module, Node 3, and the CRV. The decision truncates construction of the space
station at a stage the Administration calls “core complete.” The Administration said that
“enhancements” to the station might be possible if NASA demonstrates improved cost
estimating and program management. In 2001, NASA estimated that it would cost $8.3
billion from FY2002-2006 to build the core complete configuration, then described as all the
U.S. hardware planned for launch through Node 2 plus the launch of laboratories being built
by Europe and Japan. NASA subsequently began distinguishing between “U.S. Core
Complete” (the launches through Node 2, which, prior to the Columbia tragedy, was
scheduled for February 2004) and “International Partner (IP) Core Complete” which includes
the addition of European and Japanese laboratory modules (then anticipated in 2008).
An “ISS Management and Cost Evaluation (IMCE) Task Force” created by NASA in
July 2001 concluded that the $8.3 billion estimate was not credible. Chaired by former
Lockheed Martin executive Tom Young, IMCE determined that NASA should make
significant management and cost estimating changes (see CRS Report RL31216). NASA
Headquarters directed the space station program office (at Johnson Space Center) to reassess
its estimate, and had two independent groups conduct their own estimates. A July 2002 GAO
report (GAO-02-735) concluded that NASA’s focus on managing annual budgets resulted
in NASA’s failure to heed indicators of future program cost growth. Following those
reviews, in November 2002, the Administration submitted an amended FY2003 budget
request that shifted $706 million into the ISS program from FY2004-2007: $660 million to
boost program reserves to ensure sufficient funds to finish the core complete configuration,
and $46 million in FY2004 for “long-lead” items to preserve the option of increasing crew
size beyond three. The amended request also proposed another potential enhancement, an
Orbital Space Plane (see below), and increasing the annual shuttle flight rate to ISS to five
per year beginning in FY2006. At a December 2002 “Heads of Agency” meeting in Japan,
the international partners agreed on a process for selecting a final ISS configuration by
December 2003. The Columbia tragedy delayed the process, and President Bush’s January
2004 announcement of new exploration goals changed NASA’s own plans for construction
and use of ISS, including cancellation of the Orbital Space Plane, and termination of the
space shuttle program after ISS construction is completed. At a July 2004 Heads of Agency
meeting, the partners endorsed a final configuration of ISS, although final endorsement is not
expected until the next meeting, in 2005.
Concerns of the Non-U.S. Partners and U.S. Researchers. The non-U.S.
partners, and U.S. scientists who planned to conduct research on ISS, expressed deep concern
with the core complete configuration (see CRS Report RL31216). Concerns focused on the
decision to indefinitely defer a Crew Return Vehicle (CRV), which would limit the space
station to three permanent crew members, not seven as planned. Since NASA estimated that
2 ½ crew members were needed to operate and maintain the station, that would leave only
one-half of one person’s time to conduct research. Research is ostensibly one of the major
reasons for building the space station. For U.S. researchers, another issue was that NASA
also reduced the space station research budget by 37.5% over the FY2002-2006 period,
necessitating a reassessment of U.S. research priorities on ISS. On July 10, 2002, a Research
Maximization and Prioritization (ReMaP) task force reported to the NASA Advisory Council
on its efforts to reprioritize NASA’s ISS scientific research program. ReMaP recommended
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that the ISS research plan be reconfigured with an interdisciplinary approach, identified
research priorities, reemphasized the need for a centrifuge, and stressed the need for a
strategy for conducting research. In September 2002, the National Research Council
released a study of how the ISS program restructuring would impact scientific research. Its
overall conclusions paralleled those of ReMaP. Both NRC and ReMaP emphasized that the
negative impact on science is due not only to inadequate crew time, but to limits on the
amount of “upmass” (e.g., scientific equipment and experiments) that can taken to ISS
because NASA had proposed limiting shuttle flights to four per year. For Europe, Canada,
and Japan, the “core complete” configuration also poses problems because the additional four
permanent crew member slots were to be allocated, in part, to their astronauts. Without those
positions, European, Japanese, and Canadian astronauts could work aboard ISS only for short
durations as part of visiting crews on the U.S. space shuttle or Russian Soyuz “taxi”
missions. As noted, President Bush’s exploration initiative eliminates U.S. research on ISS
other than that related to long duration human space flight. The U.S. research plan therefore
is being restructured again.
Crew Rescue and Return: CRV, CTV, OSP, and CEV. As noted, ISS crew size
is limited in part by the number of occupants that can be accommodated in a “lifeboat” or
“crew return vehicle” in an emergency. One Soyuz spacecraft, which can accommodate three
people, is always docked at ISS today to fulfill this function. To increase crew size, one
option is to procure additional Soyuzes, so two could be docked simultaneously, allowing
crew size to expand to six. What price Russia would charge is not known. Whether NASA
could pay for them is complicated by the Iran Nonproliferation Act (see below).
NASA deferred its own plans to build a Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) in the wake of the
cost growth revealed in 2001. The CRV was envisioned only for returning crews to Earth
(it would have been taken into orbit, unoccupied, via the space shuttle). A Crew Transfer
Vehicle (CTV), by contrast, could take people both to and from the space station. In
November 2002, NASA proposed building a CTV, which NASA called an Orbital Space
Plane (OSP), but the OSP program was terminated after President Bush announced his new
exploration initiative in January 2004. Instead, NASA plans to build a “Crew Exploration
Vehicle” (CEV) whose main function would be taking crews to the Moon. NASA plans to
have the CEV available to take crews to Earth orbit by 2014, but it is not clear to what extent
it will be designed to service ISS. Thus, the future of U.S. crew transportation to and from
ISS after 2010 is unclear. At a minimum, between 2010 when the shuttle would be phased
out, and 2014, U.S. astronauts would have to rely on Russia for passage. The policy
implications of this “4-year gap” are discussed below.
In the existing international ISS agreements, Russia agreed to have one Soyuz (replaced
every six months) docked to ISS through the lifetime of the station. A 1996 “balance
agreement” between the United States and Russia stipulates that through assembly complete,
the three seats on Soyuz would be available for crew rotation and emergency return of U.S.-
Russian ISS crews. Eleven Soyuz spacecraft were specified for this purpose. According to
NASA, the 11th Soyuz will be launched in the fall of 2005 and return to Earth in the spring
of 2006. The U.S. CRV was expected to be available by assembly complete, allowing crew
size to increase to seven. If the U.S. CRV was not available, the agreement simply calls on
the parties to “discuss appropriate action.” Since there will be no U.S. CRV, without further
agreement, Americans could be limited to residency aboard ISS only when the U.S. space
shuttle is docked. Russia presumably would continue to have one Soyuz docked at the
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station, but would control who could use it, with no guarantee that Americans would be
included. Russia is interested in selling opportunities to fly on the Soyuz to help finance its
space program, so might choose to limit those opportunities to paying customers. As noted
below, the Iran Nonproliferation Act prevents NASA from paying to use Soyuz unless Russia
does not proliferate certain technologies to Iran.
NASA therefore is facing two deadlines in terms of assured access to ISS for U.S.
astronauts: spring 2006, when Russia no longer will be required to provide a “lifeboat” for
U.S. astronauts, meaning U.S. astronauts could be aboard ISS only when the shuttle is
docked; and 2010, when the shuttle is expected to be retired, and U.S. astronauts would be
completely reliant on Russia for access to ISS at least until the new Crew Exploration
Vehicle is available — scheduled for 2014. (China also can launch people into space, but
is not an ISS partner.) This “4-year gap” is discussed below.
Risks and Benefits of Russian Participation, and the Iran
Nonproliferation Act (INA)
For many years, controversy over the ISS program focused on Russia’s participation in
the program. Among the issues were the extent to which successful completion of ISS is
dependent on Russia, Russia’s financial ability to meet its commitments, and whether the
United States should provide funding to Russia if it proliferates missile technology to certain
countries. While there is no exchange of funds among the other ISS partners, the United
States (and other partners) have provided funding to Russia. By 1998, the United States had
paid approximately $800 million to Russia for space station cooperation.
Following the Clinton Administration’s decision to bring Russia into the program,
Congress stated that Russian participation “should enhance and not enable” the space station
(H.Rept. 103-273, to accompany H.R. 2491, the FY1994 VA-HUD-IA appropriations bill
— P.L. 103-124). The current design, however, can only be viewed as being “enabled” by
Russian participation. It is dependent on Russian Progress vehicles for reboost (to keep the
station from reentering Earth’s atmosphere), on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for emergency
crew return, and on Russia’s Zvezda module for crew quarters (which allows ISS to be
permanently occupied). Since the Columbia accident, access to ISS has been completely
dependent on Russia, which ferries crews back and forth on the Soyuz spacecraft, and takes
cargo to the station on Progress spacecraft. President Bush’s exploration initiative would
increase U.S. dependence on Russia vis a vis the space station.
Russia’s financial ability to meet its commitments is an ongoing issue. The launch of
Zvezda, the first module Russia had to pay for itself, was more than two years late. (Zarya
was built by Russia, but NASA paid for it.) Since Zvezda’s launch in 2000, Russia has met
its commitments to launch Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, but is reassessing what other
modules and hardware it will build at its own expense. Russian space agency officials have
repeatedly expressed concern about whether they can provide the needed number of Soyuz
and Progress spacecraft because of budget constraints.
The overall relationship between the United States and Russia is another factor in the
ISS equation, including Russian adherence to the Missile Technology Control Regime
(MTCR), which is designed to stem proliferation of ballistic missile technology. Getting
Russia to adhere to the MTCR appears to have been a primary motivation behind the Clinton
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Administration’s decision to add Russia as a partner. The United States wanted Russia to
restructure a contract with India that would have given India advanced rocket engines and
associated technology and know-how. The United States did not object to giving India the
engines, but to the technology and know-how. Russia claimed that restructuring the contract
would cost $400 million. The 1993 agreement to bring Russia into the space station program
included the United States paying Russia $400 million for space station cooperation. At the
same time, Russia agreed to adhere to the MTCR. The question is what the United States
will do if Russia violates the MTCR. Some Members of Congress believe Russia already
has done so. The Clinton Administration sanctioned 10 Russian entities for providing
technology to Iran. Neither Rosaviakosmos nor any major Russian ISS contractors or
subcontractors were among those sanctioned.
On March 14, 2000, President Clinton signed into law (P.L. 106-178) the Iran
Nonproliferation Act (INA). The law, inter alia, prohibits NASA from making payments
after January 1, 1999 in cash or in kind to Russia for ISS unless Russia takes the necessary
steps to prevent the transfer of weapons of mass destruction and missile systems to Iran and
the President certifies that neither the Russian space agency nor any entity reporting to it has
made such transfers for at least one year prior to such determination. Exceptions are made
for payments needed to prevent imminent loss of life by or grievous injury to individuals
aboard ISS (the “crew safety” exception); for payments to construct, test, prepare, deliver,
launch, or maintain Zvezda as long as the funds do not go to an entity that may have
proliferated to Iran and the United States receives goods or services of commensurate value;
and the $14 million for hardware needed to dock the U.S. ICM (see above). President
Clinton provided Congress with the required certification with regard to the $14 million on
June 29, 2000, but no certification was forthcoming for the remaining $24 million. Without
such a certification, NASA may only spend more money in Russia for ISS by meeting one
of the remaining exceptions — maintenance of Zvezda (further defined in the law) and crew
safety. At a House International Relations Committee hearing on October 12, 2000,
Members sharply criticized NASA’s legal interpretation of the crew safety exception. H.R.
1001 (Lampson) would amend the INA to allow payments to Russia any time the space
shuttle fleet is grounded.
Clinton Administration and NASA officials asserted repeatedly that Russian
participation in the space station program would accelerate the schedule by two years and
reduce U.S. costs by $4 billion. That was later modified to one year and $2 billion, and an
April 1, 1994 letter to Congress from NASA said 15 months and $1.5 billion. NASA
officials continued to use the $2 billion figure thereafter, however. GAO concluded
(GAO/NSIAD 94-248) that Russian participation would cost NASA $1.8 billion, essentially
negating the $2 billion in expected savings. In 1998, a NASA official conceded that having
Russia as a partner added $1 billion to the cost. Other benefits cited by the Clinton
Administration were providing U.S. financial assistance to Russia as it moves to a market
economy, keeping Russian aerospace workers employed in non-threatening activities, and
the emotional impact, historic symbolism, and potential long term significance of the two
former Cold War adversaries working together in space.
One benefit that is being realized is that the space station can be serviced with Russian
as well as American spacecraft, providing redundancy in case either side must ground its
fleet due to an accident, for example. This is an important advantage now that the U.S. space
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shuttle fleet is grounded. Russia is providing both crew and cargo flights to the space station,
enabling it to continue operation without the shuttle.
Congressional Action
Table 1. U.S. Space Station
FY2004
Funding
(in $ millions)
For FY2004, NASA requested $2.285
billion for ISS: $1.707 billion for
Fiscal Year
Request
Appropriated
construction and operations, and $578
million for scientific research. In addition,
1985
150
150
it requested $550 million for the Orbital
1986
230
205
Space Plane (OSP). Note that NASA’s
FY2004 budget reflects full cost accounting,
1987
410
410
where personnel and facilities costs are now
1988
767
425
included in the program’s budget, instead of
separately, as had been done in the past.
1989
967
900
Hence FY2004 NASA funding figures are
1990
2,050
1,750
not directly comparable to previous NASA
1991
2,430
1,900
figures. In the FY2004 VA-HUD-IA
appropriations bill (H.R. 2861), the House
1992
2,029
2,029
made no change to the space station or OSP
1993
2,250
2,100
programs pending release of the report on the
Columbia accident investigation. The Senate
1994
2,106
2,106
cut ISS by $200 million. No change was
1995
2,113
2,113
made to OSP funding, but the Senate
Appropriations Committee report (S.Rept.
1996
2,115
2,144
108-143) said the committee did not believe
1997
2,149
2,149
OSP was the only approach for taking
astronauts to and from ISS, and directed
1998
2,121
2,441*
NASA to create an independent oversight
1999
2,270
2,270
committee to examine the OSP program.
2000
2,483
2,323
The FY2004 VA-HUD-IA appropriations
bill was incorporated into the FY2004
2001
2,115
2, 115
Consolidated Appropriations bill (H.R.
2002
2,114 2,093
2673, P.L. 108-199). The conference report
(H.Rept. 108-401) cut ISS by $200 million.
2003
1,839
1,810**
OSP is part of the Space Launch Initiative
2004***
2,285
2,085
program, which was cut by $70 million.
OSP is being restructured into a different
2005
2,412
program in the FY2005 budget, so may or
The numbers here reflect NASA’s figures for
may not be considered part of the space
“the space station program.” Over the years,
station program.
what is included in that definition has changed.
* NASA’s FY1999 budget documents show
$2.501 billion on the expectation Congress
FY2005
would approve additional transfer requests, but it
did not.
**Adjusted for 0.65% rescission.
The FY2005 request for the ISS
***Reflects shift to full cost accounting.
program is $2.412 billion — $1.863 billion
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for construction and operations, including $140 million in a new “ISS Crew/Cargo Services”
line to pay for alternatives to the shuttle for taking crew and cargo to and from ISS; and $549
million for research. The House Appropriations Committee’s version of the FY2005 VA-
HUD-IA appropriations bill (H.R. 5041, H.Rept. 108-674) cut $190 million from ISS
construction and operations (including $70 million from ISS Crew/Cargo Services), and
$103 million from bioastronautics research. The Senate Appropriations Committee (S. 2825,
S.Rept. 108-353) cut $260 million (including all $140 million from Crew/Cargo), although
it increased the total NASA budget to $16.4 billion. The Senate Commerce Committee
ordered reported a FY2005-2009 NASA authorization bill (S. 2541) that includes the
requested level of funding for ISS.
International Partners
The Original Partners: Europe, Canada, and Japan
Canada, Japan, and most of the 15 members of the European Space Agency (ESA) have
been participating in the space station program since it began. Formal agreements were
signed in 1988, but had to be revised following Russia’s entry into the program, and two
more European countries also joined in the interim. The revised agreements were signed on
January 29, 1998, among the partners in the ISS program: United States, Russia, Japan,
Canada, and 11 European countries — Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Representatives of the various governments signed the government-to-government level
Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) that governs the program. (The United Kingdom signed
the IGA, but is not financially participating in the program so the number of European
countries participating in the program is variously listed as 10 or 11.) NASA also signed
Memoranda of Understanding for implementing the program with its counterpart agencies:
the European Space Agency (ESA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Russian space
agency (Rosaviakosmos at that time, now the Federal Space Agency), and the Japanese
Science and Technology Agency. The IGA is a treaty in all the countries except the United
States (where it is an Executive Agreement).
Canada is contributing the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) for assembling and
maintaining the space station. In February 1994, the new prime minister of Canada had
decided to terminate Canada’s role in the program, but later agreed to reformulate Canada’s
participation instead. The first part of the MSS (the “arm”) was launched in April 2001;
development of another part, the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (referred to as the
Canada Hand), is complete, and launch was scheduled for 2005.
ESA is building a laboratory module called Columbus, and an Automated Transfer
Vehicle (ATV) to take cargo to ISS. The ATV will be launched on Europe’s Ariane launch
vehicle. The first ATV launch is expected in 2005. The major contributors to Columbus are
Germany, France, and Italy. Budgetary difficulties over the years led ESA to cancel other
hardware it was planning. ESA also is building a cupola (a windowed dome) and two of the
three “nodes” (Node 2 and Node 3) for NASA in exchange for NASA launches of Europe’s
module and other services. Node 2 is completed and is at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
(KSC) undergoing integration testing. Columbus and the cupola also are completed. NASA
had canceled plans for Node 3, but now has revived them. NASA also has a bilateral
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agreement with Italy under which Italy built three “mini-pressurized logistics modules”
(MPLMs). Already in use, they are launched via the shuttle, attached to ISS while cargo is
transferred to the station, filled with refuse or other unwanted material, placed back into the
shuttle’s cargo bay, and returned to Earth.
Japan is building the Japanese Experiment Module, named Kibo (Hope). One part of
is pressurized and the other is not (called the “back porch,” it will be exposed to space for
experiments requiring those conditions). The pressurized section is completed and is
undergoing integration testing with Node 2 at KSC; the unpressurized section is in
development. Japan also is building a large centrifuge and a Centrifuge Accommodation
Module (“CAM”) for NASA in exchange for shuttle flights to launch Kibo. CAM was
scheduled for launch in 2007, but is experiencing delays in its development.
CSA reported in February 2004 that Canada’s total ISS spending is expected to be $1.4
billion (Canadian), of which $1.3 billion (Canadian) was spent by that time. ESA reported
in March 2004 that its estimated funding for ISS is 5.1 billion Euros, of which 4.1 billion
Euros were spent as of the end of 2003. (In March 2004, 1 Canadian dollar = 0.75 U.S.
dollar and 1 Euro = 1.2 U.S. dollars.) In February 2004, the Japanese space agency reported
that Japan expects to spend $4.8 billion on ISS, of which $4 billion was spent by the end of
March 2003. (A bilateral agreement was signed with Brazil in October 1997 for Brazil to
provide payload and logistics hardware. Brazil is restructuring its agreement in light of
financial constraints, however. The level of their funding contribution is unclear.)
Russia
Issues associated with Russia’s participation in ISS are discussed elsewhere. This
section explains Russian space station activities from 1971 to the present. The Soviet Union
launched the world’s first space station, Salyut 1, in 1971 followed by five more Salyuts and
then Mir. At least two other Salyuts failed before they could be occupied. The Soviets
accumulated a great deal of data from the many missions flown to these stations on human
adaptation to weightlessness. The data were often shared with NASA. They also performed
microgravity materials processing research, and astronomical and Earth remote sensing
observations. Importantly, they gained considerable experience in operating space stations.
Russia’s most recent space station, Mir, was a modular space station built and operated
between 1986 and 2001. Crews were ferried back and forth to Mir using Soyuz spacecraft.

Crews occupied Mir from 1986-2000. For almost ten of those years (1989-1999), Mir
was continuously occupied by crews on a rotating basis. Although occasionally crews
stayed for very long periods of time to study human reaction to long duration spaceflight,
typically they remained for 5-6 months and then were replaced by a new crew. From 1995-
1998, seven Americans participated in long duration (up to six month) missions aboard Mir,
and nine space shuttle missions docked with the space station. Individuals from Japan,
Britain, Austria, Germany, France, and the Slovak Republic also paid for visits to Mir.
Russia deorbited Mir into the Pacific Ocean on March 23, 2001.
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Key Issues For Congressional Consideration
Increased Dependence on Russia and Other Impacts of the
Columbia Tragedy and the President’s Exploration Initiative
Current Operations. The grounding of the space shuttle system following the
Columbia accident is affecting the schedule for assembly of ISS, and temporarily reducing
the size of Expedition crews from three to two. Crews are being taken to and from ISS using
Russian Soyuz spacecraft on the same six-month schedule already planned, and Russian
Progress spacecraft are used to resupply the crew. Construction of ISS is suspended until the
shuttle returns to flight. This arrangement can continue as long as funding is available to
build and launch Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. Russia is obligated to provide two Soyuz
and a certain number of Progress spacecraft each year, but has cautioned its partners that
funding to provide those spacecraft is not assured. Under the Iran Nonproliferation Act
(INA), NASA is prohibited from paying Russia for ISS-related activities unless the President
certifies that Russia is not proliferating certain technologies to Iran. NASA officials have
testified to Congress that there are no plans to request a waiver from INA. H.R. 1001 would
amend the INA to permit payments to Russia for ISS any time the space shuttle is grounded.
If the shuttle is grounded for an extended period, the decision to keep crews on ISS may
need to be reassessed. The Russians operated seven space stations using only Soyuz and
Progress, so it is possible to keep ISS operating without the shuttle. In this case, however,
not only would questions remain about how to fund the requisite Soyuz and Progress
spacecraft, but ISS was designed to take advantage of the crew- and cargo-carrying capacity
of the U.S. space shuttle. For example, NASA earlier stated that 2 ½ crew members are
needed to operate ISS. With only a two-person crew, less time may be available for
scientific experiments, and there are fewer experiments to conduct since many cannot be
transported to the station without the shuttle. If little science can be accomplished, some may
question the wisdom of asking astronauts and cosmonauts to accept the risks inherent in
human spaceflight simply to maintain ISS systems. Conversely, how long ISS could
continue to function with no one aboard is unknown. Progress spacecraft could dock with
ISS automatically to reboost it and keep it at the proper altitude, but a major system
malfunction that could not be remedied by ground-based controllers could imperil the station.
Another issue is Russia’s March 2004 proposal to extend the duration of Expedition
missions to one year instead of six months. In the 30 years that Russia operated its own
space stations, only three cosmonauts remained in space continuously for a year or more.
Typically, Russian Mir crews remained in orbit for 5-6 months. Therefore, the physiological
and psychological aspects of year-long missions are not well understood. Doubling the
length of the ISS missions could therefore add risk, but would allow additional research on
the effects of spaceflight conditions, which could be relevant to eventual human trips to
Mars. NASA responded to the Russian proposal by saying it was not ready to approve
one-year missions for its crews.
Changes Due to the Exploration Initiative, Including the “4-year Gap”.
President Bush’s January 2004 exploration initiative could affect the ISS program in several
ways. The President said the shuttle would be retired in 2010 after construction of ISS is
completed, and ISS research would be restricted to only the life sciences research needed
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to support the goal of human missions to the Moon and Mars, instead of the broadly-based
research program that was expected. According to the NASA budget chart, NASA would
complete its utilization of ISS by FY2017. NASA Administrator O’Keefe, however, stated
at a February 12, 2004, House Science Committee hearing that NASA may continue using
the station after that, and there is no plan to “turn out the lights.” The budget projections for
achieving the President’s exploration initiative assume that funding for ISS (and the shuttle
and other NASA programs) ends, so that it can be redirected to the new program. If Mr.
O’Keefe’s statement is correct, then it is not clear how the goals can be achieved on the
announced schedule without additional funds, the source of which is not evident. Mr.
O’Keefe also stated that the other partners might continue using ISS, but the extent to which
ISS can be utilized without the space shuttle is not clear. Soyuz spacecraft can take crews
back and forth, but the shuttle’s cargo capacity — both for taking cargo to ISS, and back to
Earth (e.g. the results of scientific experiments, or hardware that needs repair) — could be
expensive to replicate. No other partner has a spacecraft able to bring material back to Earth
today. Europe reportedly now is considering adding a return capsule to its Automated
Transfer Vehicle, and NASA is exploring the possibility of U.S. commercial companies
developing a return capability. None of those plans is firm, though, and the size and mass
of what could be returned is likely to be less than what can be carried in the shuttle’s cargo
bay. NASA has spent more than $30 billion to build ISS. If its utilization is heavily
restricted, as envisioned in the exploration initiative, questions may arise as to whether the
expenditure was worthwhile, which could impact future decisions about NASA funding.
One aspect of the policy that has been largely overshadowed by attention on the
prospect of returning humans to the Moon is the decision to end assured access to space for
U.S. astronauts. The “4-year gap” between 2010 (termination of the space shuttle) and 2014
(availability of the Crew Exploration Vehicle) is discussed above. It must be emphasized
that no decision has been made as to whether the CEV will, in fact, be designed to service
ISS. It main purpose is lunar transportation. From a policy perspective, some find the
decision surprising, especially because that is a period when life sciences research aboard ISS
ostensibly is needed to help fulfill the Moon/Mars vision. The only other ISS partner with
the ability to launch astronauts is Russia, but no agreement has been negotiated about the
terms and conditions Russia would require. Such an agreement does exist today (the balance
agreement, discussed earlier), but Russia is expected to complete those obligations in 2006.
After that, Russia can charge whatever price it likes to transport U.S. astronauts or provide
a “lifeboat” capability for them, or it could choose not to carry Americans at all. It could
decide to rotate crews at whatever intervals it chose. As long as the shuttle is operating, U.S.
astronauts would still be able to visit ISS whenever the shuttle is there, but retiring the shuttle
forecloses that option. One issue that arises is whether the United States should terminate
the shuttle before a replacement capability is available. Another is whether ground-based
alternatives to conducting the life sciences research should be explored in case Americans
cannot access ISS, a situation that could evolve if Russia declines to take Americans, charges
too high a price, NASA continues to be prohibited by the INA from making payments to
Russia, or Russia makes operational decisions with which NASA disagrees.
Cost and Cost Effectiveness
Cost effectiveness involves what can be accomplished with the facility that is ultimately
built versus its cost. In 1993, NASA said it would cost $17.4 billion to build the U.S. portion
of the space station. That rose to $24.1-$26.4 billion by early 2000, with $5 billion more in
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cost growth announced in 2001. A current cost estimate is not available since construction
is suspended awaiting the shuttle’s return to flight. Cost estimates for the earlier Freedom
design rose significantly as the years passed, and with each Freedom redesign, the amount
of science diminished. Scientific research is often cited as a major reason for building the
station. Many wondered whether Freedom’s fate awaited ISS, and now believe it has. In
FY1996, FY1997, and FY1998 NASA transferred $462 million from the space station
science accounts into space station construction. In response to the cost growth revealed in
2001, NASA reduced the ISS research budget by 37.5% (FY2002-2006) and indefinitely
deferred building hardware that would enable a larger crew to live aboard the station,
meaning that the amount of research that can be conducted may be sharply reduced.
President Bush’s January 2004 announcement would limit the types of research to be
conducted to life sciences research to support human missions to the Moon and Mars rather
than the multi-disciplinary research earlier envisioned, which may further reduce the station’s
scientific pay-off.
Operations and Commercialization Issues
Prior to President Bush’s January 2004 policy directive, attention was being given to who
should operate ISS and how to encourage commercial use of it. Congress declared economic
development of Earth orbital space as a “priority goal” of ISS in the 1998 Commercial Space
Act (P.L. 105-303). NASA supported space station commercialization, both in terms of
getting the private sector to use research facilities on ISS, and assuming space station
operations. According to its ISS commercialization website [http://commercial.hq.nasa.gov],
NASA is committed to setting aside approximately 30% of the U.S. share of ISS’s research
capacity for economic development. NASA wanted to create a non-governmental
organization (NGO) to oversee research on the space station that would be modeled after the
Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates the Hubble Space Telescope. The NGO
would report to NASA. Others want the private sector, not the government, to manage and
operate the space station. As noted earlier, it is not clear what the fate of the space station
after FY2017 will be under President Bush’s new plan and what role, if any, the private sector
would play in operations or utilization.
LEGISLATION
H.R. 1001 (Lampson). Amends the Iran Nonproliferation Act to allow payments to
Russia in connection with ISS for safety and maintenance purposes any time the space shuttle
fleet is grounded. Introduced February 27; referred to House International Relations and
House Science Committees.
H.R. 5041 (Walsh)/S. 2825 (Bond). FY2005 VA-HUD-IA appropriations (includes
NASA). Reported from House Appropriations Committee September 9, 2004 (H.Rept. 108-
674). Reported from Senate Appropriations Committee September 21 (S.Rept. 108-353).
S. 2541 (McCain). FY2005-2009 NASA authorization bill. Ordered reported from the
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee September 22, 2004.
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