Russia's space chief said on Thursday he had secured government funds to avoid mothballing the $95 billion International Space Station this year, but said the outpost's long-term future was still uncertain.
Russian Soyuz and Progress craft have become the only means of sending up cosmonauts and servicing the orbiting station since the U.S. space shuttle Colombia disintegrated in February, causing the U.S. shuttle fleet to be grounded indefinitely.
Russia, hard-pressed for funds, has been lobbying Washington to fork out more cash to help keep manned flights running.
But Washington has balked at the request for foreign policy reasons and niggles over whether Moscow had carried out its launch obligations under the program.
"We have got 1.2 billion roubles ($38.36 million), moved from the third quarter of this year to the second quarter," Yuri Koptev, head of Russia's Rosaviakosmos space agency, was quoted by Russian agencies as saying after a government meeting.
Koptev said the government's agreement to dispense money ahead of schedule had doubled the agency's funds for the second quarter and would allow it to carry out all the launches planned for 2003 as well as start building spacecraft for the next year.
But additional funding would be needed in the future to keep the station permanently manned, he said.
"In August-September we will need to return to the issue of additional financing," Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying. Rosaviakosmos needs an extra injection of 2.8 billion roubles to keep the ISS running, he said.
On top of that, Russia needs $250 million to develop its part of the ISS station over the next three years.
Since it was first manned in 2000, the station has been managed by permanent crews of Russians and Americans. Currently, the ISS is operated by two U.S. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut, in orbit since November.
NEW SOYUZ LAUNCH
The three-man crew was due to return to Earth in March aboard the Atlantis shuttle. But their return now depends on a Russian mission due to blast off on April 26, which Koptev has said may be postponed until May.
Russia asked Washington for $100 million to send Soyuz manned craft and Progress cargoes to the ISS. But Washington has said Moscow's arms deals with Tehran made money transfers between the two countries legally impossible.
NASA also insists that last year Russia did not carry out all the launches it signed up to make and should now simply make up the shortfall.
The indefinite grounding of the U.S. shuttle fleet -- until the cause of Columbia crash is established -- has halted the expansion of the ISS. A pause in Russian launches would mean a suspension of permanent human presence in space.
Koptev said mothballing the station would damage the craft and endanger the future of the 16-nation project. He mentioned some recurring problems with the station's onboard computer among mishaps that could not be rectified from earth.
Koptev also called on the Russian government to fund development of its segment of the station and carry out research instead of allowing its space program to narrow to simple ferrying of cosmonauts.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=2502640
Russian Soyuz and Progress craft have become the only means of sending up cosmonauts and servicing the orbiting station since the U.S. space shuttle Colombia disintegrated in February, causing the U.S. shuttle fleet to be grounded indefinitely.
Russia, hard-pressed for funds, has been lobbying Washington to fork out more cash to help keep manned flights running.
But Washington has balked at the request for foreign policy reasons and niggles over whether Moscow had carried out its launch obligations under the program.
"We have got 1.2 billion roubles ($38.36 million), moved from the third quarter of this year to the second quarter," Yuri Koptev, head of Russia's Rosaviakosmos space agency, was quoted by Russian agencies as saying after a government meeting.
Koptev said the government's agreement to dispense money ahead of schedule had doubled the agency's funds for the second quarter and would allow it to carry out all the launches planned for 2003 as well as start building spacecraft for the next year.
But additional funding would be needed in the future to keep the station permanently manned, he said.
"In August-September we will need to return to the issue of additional financing," Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying. Rosaviakosmos needs an extra injection of 2.8 billion roubles to keep the ISS running, he said.
On top of that, Russia needs $250 million to develop its part of the ISS station over the next three years.
Since it was first manned in 2000, the station has been managed by permanent crews of Russians and Americans. Currently, the ISS is operated by two U.S. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut, in orbit since November.
NEW SOYUZ LAUNCH
The three-man crew was due to return to Earth in March aboard the Atlantis shuttle. But their return now depends on a Russian mission due to blast off on April 26, which Koptev has said may be postponed until May.
Russia asked Washington for $100 million to send Soyuz manned craft and Progress cargoes to the ISS. But Washington has said Moscow's arms deals with Tehran made money transfers between the two countries legally impossible.
NASA also insists that last year Russia did not carry out all the launches it signed up to make and should now simply make up the shortfall.
The indefinite grounding of the U.S. shuttle fleet -- until the cause of Columbia crash is established -- has halted the expansion of the ISS. A pause in Russian launches would mean a suspension of permanent human presence in space.
Koptev said mothballing the station would damage the craft and endanger the future of the 16-nation project. He mentioned some recurring problems with the station's onboard computer among mishaps that could not be rectified from earth.
Koptev also called on the Russian government to fund development of its segment of the station and carry out research instead of allowing its space program to narrow to simple ferrying of cosmonauts.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=2502640
