Funding row fuels fear over space station

The international space station should be completed by 2006. ESA

Switzerland has expressed concern over the future of the International Space Station (ISS), following a cut in United States funding for the project.

At a meeting in Washington earlier this week, Switzerland joined 13 other ISS partner countries in urging the US to respect its financial commitment to the building project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2006.

The American space agency NASA announced at the end of last year its intention to scale back its involvement in the project after it exceeded its ISS budget by $5 billion (SFr7.35 billion).

European pressure

“Switzerland supports the European position: that the US must respect what they have signed,” said Daniel Neuenschwander of the Swiss Space Office.

According to Neuenschwander, the outcome of the meeting was a disappointment for Switzerland and the other mainly European partner countries. “The Europeans were not able to bring sufficient weight to bear on the United States to force them to clarify their position,” the Swiss official commented.

He said the European participants in the project were jointly contributing just 8.3 per cent of the total cost of construction, estimated at $60-96 billion. As one of the smaller countries in the European Space Agency, Switzerland is due to contribute just SFr120 million over the period 1996-2005.

The NASA decision to cut funding is expected to result in abandonment of plans for an accommodation module for the permanent crew and to reduce the number of crew members from seven to three – a move strongly opposed by the Europeans.

NASA is expected to announce its final decision on what cuts to make at a meeting with heads of partner space agencies in December.

swissinfo