Andrei Kislyakov has an interesting analysis on the RIA Novosti website about Russia’s future role in the International Space Station project. Although there are fears in the West about the country’s growing role in the program, some in Russia worry their involvement could decline in the future.
The recent launch of Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle resupply ship has subtly shifted the balance among the partners. Europe will be playing a larger role in station operations, a role that could eventually expand to flying astronauts to the facility aboard a human-rated ATV.
To date, crew transfers and cargo resupply have been handled by the American space shuttle and the Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. However, America plans to retire the shuttles in 2010, and it could be five years before the successor vehicle, Orion, flies crews to ISS.
NASA officials and members of Congress have expressed deep reservations over having to rely on the Russians for that long, both for reasons of national autonomy and concerns over what they view as an increasingly autocratic and aggressive Russian government. Kislyakov believes these concerns are pushing the United States toward giving Europe a bigger role in human space exploration.
“Jean-Yves Le Gall, CEO of Arianespace, a public-private company manufacturing, operating and marketing Ariane 5 launch vehicles, said in an interview last week that the company would like to play a larger role in supplying the ISS. Le Gall said the EU is scheduled to decide in November whether to enter the field of human spaceflight and become a full-fledged participant in the ISS project,” Kislyakov notes.
Meanwhile, NASA is providing $500 million in seed funding for the development of two ISS supply vehicles under its COTS program. SpaceX, of El Segundo, Calif., is building the Dragon, which will have both cargo and crew variants. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Virginia also is developing its Cygnus cargo vehicle. NASA is likely to fully fund at least one of these spacecraft. The agency hopes the COTS program can help fill some of the gap between shuttle and Orion.
The Japanese role in ISS also is growing with the recent delivery of the first section of its Kibo research module. The facility main section will be connected to the station in late May. The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that Japanese officials are becoming increasingly assert as the country’s role grows and they face rising expectations to get results from a 20-year-old commitment to the orbiting laboratory.
Kibo will consume more of the space station’s limited power supply. Kislyakov reports that Russian officials feel that their contributions to the station are not receiving enough power. Additional power generating modules are not scheduled for launch until 2014.
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