Work on the International Space Station (ISS) in 1998 is expected to cost NASA and Boeing at least $430 million more than the $2.1 billion proposed in the space agency's 1998 budget. The extra cost includes $100 million set aside to compensate for delays caused by possible difficulties with Russian contractors.
The additional $430 million will have to be taken from other programmes, says NASA, which warns that the total overrun on the ISS may reach $600 milllion. Insiders at the US space administration suggest that the eventual overrun may reach $1 billion by the time the ISS is operational.
If Congress does not agree the transfer of additional funds in the $13.6 billion budget proposal, NASA may have to delay the ISS. The first US Space Shuttle ISS assembly launch is scheduled for July 1998 (Flight International, 11-17 June).
Although NASA is committed to spend no more than $17 billion on the ISS to its completion in 2002, the project will have cost about $60 billion since its inception in 1984, including the cost of the Shuttle assembly missions.
The Russian Space Agency (RSA), meanwhile, says it has not received the final 700 billion roubles ($120 million) promised by the Government for its work on the ISS. In May, it received 800 billion roubles of an agreed total of 1,500 billion roubles, but further payments have so far been stalled.
The RSA has warned that if further money is not received, the building of the Russian service module will be delayed.
Source: Flight International
