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1 1 (April 18, 2018)

handle is hein.crs/govzgd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ~~ I~nrin thel I iv dc't if~ 191 Updated April 18, 2018 The International Space Station (ISS) and the Administration's Proposal to End Direct NASA Funding by 2025 Introduction The Trump Administration's FY2019 budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) proposes to end direct NASA funding of the International Space Station (ISS) by 2025. Budget documents state that industry could potentially continue to operate certain elements or capabilities. Some reports have characterized this proposal as commercialization of the ISS. Under the Administration's plan, NASA would focus its human spaceflight activities on the Moon and deep space; it would rely on commercial partners for its research and technology demonstration needs in low Earth orbit. This CRS In Focus provides background on the ISS, its governing international agreements, its planned service life, the ongoing commercialization of U.S. ISS access, and current commercial use of the ISS. It concludes with a brief discussion of congressional options. Figure I. The International Space Station, viewed from space shuttle Endeavour in 201 1. Source: NASA. What Is the ISS? The ISS orbits Earth about every 90 minutes at an altitude of about 240 miles. This altitude is considered low Earth orbit. For comparison, many telecommunications satellites are in geosynchronous orbits at an altitude of about 22,000 miles, while the distance to the Moon is about 240,000 miles. The ISS is composed of crew living space, laboratories, remote manipulator systems, solar arrays to generate electricity, and other elements. Overall, it is roughly the size of a football field. Its pressurized living and working spaces have about the same volume as the interior of a Boeing 747. Rotating crews have occupied it continuously since November 2000. As well as providing facilities for research and technology development in low Earth orbit, the ISS serves as a test bed and stepping stone for future human exploration missions to more distant destinations. Through February 2017, ISS research had resulted in 1,395 publications in scientific journals and 422 papers presented at scientific conferences. NASA claims benefits that range from new surgical technology to improvements in water purification. At a congressional hearing in 2017, a University of Florida scientist described the ISS as a critical, unique, and extraordinarily capable research platform. The ISS is currently the only operational component of NASA's human spaceflight program. Astronaut transport to and from the ISS is provided by Russian spacecraft and, in the future, U.S. commercial providers. NASA's plans for future human exploration of space focus on the Moon and other destinations beyond Earth orbit, for which a new rocket and capsule are now in development. The first crewed flight of those new systems is expected in 2023. International Cooperation on the ISS The framework for international cooperation on the ISS is the Intergovernmental Agreement on Space Station Cooperation, which was signed in 1998 by representatives of the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and 11 European countries. The agreement is implemented through memoranda of understanding between NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos), the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the European Space Agency (ESA). Additional agreements exist with several other international partners. The ISS components built and operated by NASA, JAXA, CSA, and ESA are known as the U.S. operating segment. They include laboratories, connecting nodes, an airlock, docking ports, storage space, and external systems such as solar arrays and a manipulator arm. The components built in Russia and operated by Roscosmos are known as the Russian operating segment. They include crew living quarters, storage space, airlocks, and docking ports. ISS Service Life For most of the last decade, ISS operations were scheduled to continue only through FY2016. Statutory authority for continued U.S. operation of the ISS was extended through at least FY2020 by the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-267, Sec. 503(a)) and through at least FY2024 by the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (P.L. 114-90, Sec. 114(b)). In each case, NASA conducted engineering reviews, with oversight by the Government Accountability Office and the NASA Inspector General, to https:/crsreports.congress.go,

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