"The existence of this document, completed May 19, 2000, was confirmed today by [RKK Energia] in the wake of announcements by other companies of potential plans to build their own module and attach it to the ISS," the statement said.

"We are doing a lot of analysis, there are options," Mike Albright, Boeing’s program manager for the commercial space module said last week. "But I think right now one of the prime options they are looking at is the nadir port of FGB 1 (the Zarya module)."

SpaceHab drew a line in the sand Tuesday, reiterating that Energia is the "prime contractor for the Russian segment of the International Space Station."

"This should clarify and eliminate any confusion," said Valery Ryumin, Energia’s deputy general designer and program director for the ISS.

A Boeing spokesman didn’t immediately return phone calls.

But the question still remains whether SpaceHab’s deal with Energia to dock on the Russian side is as seamless as the press release claims.

People close to the negotiations still believe that there is room for the Boeing-Khrunichev venture to push the SpaceHab-Energia module to the side.

"It would be no surprise if the Russians are cutting deals with both sides for access to the same docking port," said a source familiar with the situation. "It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing happened."

"I say it goes to whomever got there first," said David Barnes, former head of international affairs at NASA Headquarters. "But Boeing is the prime contractor for NASA on the station."

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The Russian-built FGB or "Zarya" , the Russian word for sunrise, was the first piece of the now three-segment ISS. It was launched in November 1998 as a power plant to provide propulsion and control of the outpost.

SpaceHab’s 12-foot- (3.7-meter-) diameter, 36-foot- (11-meter-) long Enterprise module is being built at Energia’s Korolev construction facility. The module will be launched into orbit by the Russian Space Agency atop a Zenit-class rocket and will be attached to the ISS in early 2003.

One portion of the Enterprise will be devoted to research that would require an extended time in space, such as protein-crystal growth or materials research.

Another part of the module is to be used as an orbital broadcast station, beaming video and data back to Earth for telecasts and webcasts.

Boeing’s Commercial Space Module (CSM) will be a sister module to Zarya and could be used to deliver propellant and cargo to the space station.

When docked to the station, it could provide on-orbit storage, interim crew quarters and accommodations for multimedia, scientific and communications equipment.