Tim Furniss
The much-delayed launch of the Russian Zvezda service module, which has been holding up the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS), will take place in November.
The Russian Space Agency (RSA) said at the show that the module has been delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome and a Russian and NASA team are working on electrical testing.
Assembly
Boris Andreyev of the RSA said that the agency was confident that the launch date can be met and assembly of the station can proceed.
Zvezda should have been launched more than a year ago and as a result of the delay, mainly due to severe budget problems, several key Shuttle missions to continue with the assembly have been delayed similarly.
The ISS programme kicked off with the launch of the Russian Zarya control module in November 1998, itself many months late.
A month later, a Space Shuttle crew was launched to dock the US-built Node 1, called Unity, to the Zarya, creating the first part of the ISS.
Another Shuttle crew returned to Earth earlier this month after a mission to equip the ISS with cargo.
If Zvezda is launched in November, another Shuttle can be launched in December to prepare the station for its first resident crew, due to arrive in March 2000.
But another Zvezda delay could cause more trouble for a frustrated NASA.
Source: Flight Daily News
