spacetoday.net: Russia seeks US, European funding help for ISS

Posted: Fri, Feb 21, 2003, 8:53 AM ET (1353 GMT)
ISS illustration (NASA)

Russian officials said Thursday that they need financial support from the United States or Europe in order to provide the additional spacecraft needed to resupply the International Space Station while the shuttle is grounded. Rosaviakosmos director Yuri Koptev said Thursday that it needs NASA to overcome concerns about any transfer of weapons technology to Iran and provide Russia with funding to build additional Progress cargo spacecraft. Direct NASA funding of Russian space efforts is prohibited by the Iran Nonproliferation Act, although the President can provide a waiver in critical situations. However, Space News reported that Scott Pace, NASA deputy chief of staff, said at a conference this week that NASA was unlikely to request such a waiver. Rosaviakosmos is also asking for support from Europe, offering it positions on long-duration expeditions in exchange for funding. The AFP article that reported this did not mention whether the slots on future expeditions would come from Russia or the US. NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe said Thursday that he believed that a final plan for operating the station would be completed "within days", according to SPACE.com; such a plan would likely involve two-person caretaker crews to operate the station until the shuttle returns to service. The crew of the ISS told interviewers Thursday that they were concerned that the station may not be possible to maintain the station with the current number of Progress resupply missions even with only a two-person crew on board.