Heads of Space Agencies meet in Montreal on 26 January 2005

N° 06-2005 - Paris, 26 January 2005

Heads of Space Agencies meet in Montreal on 26 January 2005

The Heads of space agencies from the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe
and Canada met in Montreal, Canada, on 26 January to review and further
advance International Space Station (ISS) cooperation. At this meeting, the
Heads of Agency reviewed the status of ongoing ISS operations and NASA's
plans for Space Shuttle return to flight. The Heads of Agency endorsed the
Multilateral Coordination Board approved ISS configuration. The partners
reaffirmed their agencies' commitment to meet their ISS obligations and to
complete ISS ssembly by the end of the decade, and to use and further evolve
ISS in a manner that meets their research and exploration objectives

The Partners discussed and agreed on plans for continued support of the ISS
consistent with planned ISS research and utilisation. Of particular
interest to the Partners is the increased use of ISS and early opportunities
for an enhanced crew of greater than three after the Shuttle returns to
flight. ISS transportation needs will be met by a mix of support vehicles
from across the Partnership. Planning includes support by Russian Soyuz
spacecraft, the U.S. Space Shuttle, the automated logistics re-supply
capabilities provided by Russian Progress vehicles, the ATV and HTV
spacecraft to be provided by Europe and Japan respectively, as well as the
capabilities from potential future commercial providers.

The ISS Heads of Agency agreed to meet again in Fall 2005 to review the
progress on planned ISS activities. They reaffirmed their commitment to
continue the unprecedented international
cooperation that has characterized the ISS Programme to date. This
cooperation has enabled the Partnership to safely maintain human presence
on-orbit and keep the ISS in a productive state of operations and
utilisation, including the continued use of Canadarm2 during the current
hiatus in Space Shuttle flights. The ISS Heads of Agency also expressed
their appreciation for the outstanding work being conducted by the ISS
on-orbit crews and confirmed their readiness to continue with ISS assembly
when the Space Shuttle returns to flight in the May 2005 timeframe.

For more information, please contact :
ESA Media Relations Division
Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155
Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690

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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info