WASHINGTON -- SPACEHAB, Inc. is awaiting a sign that NASA or one of the other International Space Station (ISS) partners besides Russia intends to use the company's planned Enterprise module before proceeding with construction of the privately financed space hotel.

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SPACEHAB and its Russian partner Rocket Space Corporation (RSC) Energia joined forces in late 1999 to design and build the $100 million Enterprise space station module to accommodate commercial activities such as live television broadcasts from orbit, privately funded scientific research and possibly even space tourism.

Now SPACEHAB and Energia see renting out sleeping quarters to customers like NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) as the main business opportunity for the Enterprise module.

SPACEHAB and Energia officials said they are willing to build more bunk space and life support systems into Enterprise to compensate for NASA's cancellation of the U.S. habitation module. Without the habitation module or something like it, the ISS would not be able to support six or seven crew members as was called for in the original station design.

Boris Sotnikov, one of Enterprise's designers at Korolyov, Russia-based Energia, said NASA's decision to postpone construction of a habitation module prompted the two companies to consider dedicating more of the Enterprise module's 1,765 cubic feet (50 cubic meters) of pressurized volume to crew accommodations.

John M. "Mike" Lounge, SPACEHAB senior vice president, told reporters here March 27 that selling crew accommodations and storage space to government customers such as NASA is expected to account for about 50 percent of Enterprise's revenue during the first five years or so of operations. Lounge said SPACEHAB and Energia are counting on Enterprise to earn $100 million or more in annual revenue.

SPACEHAB and Energia have invested about $5 million to $10 million in Enterprise to date, Lounge said. Making a 2003 launch date will require the companies to start spending more like $30 million to $40 million annually in the months ahead.

"This summer we need to get seriously into full-scale production," Lounge said. "That's when the expense curve gets steep."

Lounge said NASA or ESA's interest in Enterprise as a habitation module is more important than ever now that SPACEHAB is no longer counting on entertainment and other media deals for the lion's share of Enterprise's revenues.

Before SPACEHAB can secure the financing for the project, however, it needs strong evidence of customer interest to show investors, Lounge said.

"We need a fairly strong signal from a customer this summer that they are willing to buy this type of service," Lounge said.