The International Space Station (ISS) is facing more delays following Russia's decision to keep its Proton booster grounded until at least March, while improvements are made to the second stage powerplant after two failures in four months. The grounding means that the Russian Zvezda service module for the ISS will not be launched until April at the earliest.
The Zvezda is due to be launched on a three-stage version of the Proton, but it is unlikely that the service module will be entrusted to the booster until at least one successful verification flight. A late Zvezda launch will delay by at least two months any further Space Shuttle flights to service and assemble the ISS.
The latest delay means that completion of the ISS is unlikely until 2005 - 11 years behind the schedule established in 1984.
Source: Flight International
