Space station needs ‘extension to 2020’

Europe wants a decision in 2010 on an extension to the life of the International Space Station (ISS).

At the moment, no programme for its use nor any funding has been put in place to support the platform beyond 2015.

But the European Space Agency's (Esa) Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain, told the BBC the uncertainty was undermining best use of the ISS.

He said he was persuaded of its worth, and expressed the desire to keep flying the station until at least 2020.

Only by guaranteeing longevity would more scientists come forward to run experiments on the orbiting laboratory, he argued.

"I am convinced that stopping the station in 2015 would be a mistake because we cannot attract the best scientists if we are telling them today 'you are welcome on the space station but you'd better be quick because in 2015 we close the shop'," he said.

The weightless environment on the station enables scientists to study systems and processes without the bias of gravity. Already it is providing new insights into infectious and degenerative diseases, and is expected to return new knowledge in a host of other fields as well, such as materials science.

But scientists needed time to run their experiments, Mr Dordain said.

The ISS project is a partnership of five - the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada.

Budget consideration

One of the biggest issues holding up an agreement on station-life extension is the human spaceflight review ordered by US President Barack Obama.

The Americans are developing a new vision for space exploration, and the rockets and spacecraft they will need to implement it. The future of US participation in the ISS is intimately tied to the outcome of the review.

Mr Dordain said no one partner in the ISS project could unilaterally call an end to the platform. A meeting would be held in Japan later in the year where he hoped the partners could get some clarity going forward.

"The decision must be taken early enough to put the budget in place, to build the hardware necessary and to decide on which transportation policy we shall use between 2015 and 2020. There are lot of aspects to be discussed and if decisions are not taken by the end of this year - beginning of next year - it will become more and more difficult to have the approach under which we will exploit the space station."

Mr Dordain said it was also essential the benefits were increased and the costs were reduced.

Increasing the benefits could include finding new uses for the station.

Esa has called for ideas on how to use the ISS as a platform for Earth observation. Mr Dordain said the agency had received about 20 very good proposals.

On the issue of reducing costs, there were many ideas on the table, he explained.

"First of all, we have four control centres - one in Houston, one in Oberpfaffenhofen, one in Moscow and one in Tsukuba - and these four control centres are working 24 hours a day. Question mark: Why can't we use only two of them for 12 hours and then the other two for 12 hours?"

He also questioned whether it was necessary for the station to be staffed by six astronauts at all times. If there were periods when little maintenance was required or the experiment load was light, could the ISS run on a smaller crew, he suggested.

One way to reduce costs would be to bring in new partners outside the current five - something Mr Dordain is keen to see discussed.

Construction of the space station is due to finish this year. Next month, two components built in Europe - a connecting node and a robotic control room - will be flown to the platform by the US shuttle Endeavour.

Tranquility and the Cupola, as they are known, will complete the non-Russian side of the ISS.

By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News