Abstract
At present five space agencies, NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA and CSA (e.g. ISS partners), are operating the International Space Station in low Earth orbit (LEO). They own and operate their own modules and share some of the on-board experimental racks. The space station is the result of 25 years of international cooperation between the agencies. The station is a space laboratory that could host up to six astronauts, and its size corresponds to around two football playgrounds. The space agencies have planned the operational life of the ISS to last until 2024; however, there are discussions for prolonging it by 2028. Presently the ISS partners do not have long-term plans for building a next generation of space stations although there are various ideas. One of them is that after the launch of the Russian multipurpose module in 2019, the Russian ISS segment will be fully independent from the rest of the ISS in terms of power, communications and other resources. Permitting the separation of the Russian ISS modules, a Russian space station may be created which will even be fitted with inflatable modules (Zak 2016). In addition China has been looking at launching its own Chinese large modular space station in low Earth orbit around 2022. Researchers worldwide are invited to fly their experiments on board it.
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Notes
- 1.
In the early days of NASA COTS programme, the agency had signed an agreement also with Rocketplane Kistler, allocating USD207 million. The company failed to attract private funding, and NASA cancelled their agreement with them, following the signing of an agreement with Orbital for USD178 million.
- 2.
SpaceX Dragon vehicle was successfully launched on a Falcon 9 and already several times docked to the ISS. Orbital ATK Cygnus vehicle was also successfully docked to the ISS and could be launched on an Antares or Atlas 5 launcher. The CST-100 vehicle Boeing is planned to be launched on an Atlas 5, while Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser resembles a small space shuttle with reusable capabilities and is planned to be launched on an Atlas 5 and Ariane 5 launchers. Lockheed Martin Jupiter and Exoliner could also be launched on an Atlas 5.
- 3.
In 2016 the ISS markets reached the frenzied stage of market development with market expansions, raise of profits and increased competition.
- 4.
JAXA set up an Open Space Lab to create new business models and projects (Tkatchova, JAXA ISS Commercialisation strategy 2011). JAXA also launched the JAXA Cosmode Project that provides a brand for space-related products and services.
- 5.
Under the JAXA utilization system a number of projects were launched, such as the Olympus Camera mission, Lotte Xylitol, Poetry competition, flying flower seeds in space and others.
- 6.
In the early days of the NASA COTS programme, the agency signed an agreement also with Rocketplane Kistler, allocating to USD207 million, the company failed to attract the private funding, and NASA cancelled their agreement with them, following on signing an agreement with Orbital for USD178 million.
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Tkatchova, S. (2018). Commercial Space Station Activities. In: Emerging Space Markets. Space Technology Library, vol 35. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55669-6_5
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