When President George W. Bush announced cuts to the U.S. involvement in Space Station Alpha, he may have inadvertently strengthened U.S. dependence on Russia in the international project.

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If passed as proposed, Bush's FY2002 budget would call for the cancellation of the U.S. habitation and propulsion modules, as well as the X-38 crew return vehicle (CRV). Coupled with NASA's recent cancellation of the X-33 technology demonstrator, the cuts will require Russia to continue to fill roles once relegated to the U.S.

The X-33 was designed as a prototype for a proposed next-generation "ferry" for the International Space Station (ISS). The X-38 was to become the outpost's lifeboat. These roles are currently filled by Russian Progress and Soyuz spacecraft, respectively, both of which are launched on Soyuz rockets from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

"We are not rushing to a conclusion as to whether the X-33 and X-38 cancellation will make for a more rosy perspective for Russian participation in [the] ISS," commented Sergey Gorbunov, a spokesman for Rosaviacosmos (the Russian space agency). "NASA has not addressed us with any formal request regarding the current [Soyuz] lifeboat. Well keep manufacturing our spacecraft according to our current ISS commitments."

If the U.S. were to call upon Russia to develop a CRV replacement for the X-38, they might already have a spacecraft that could fulfill the requirements.

The assured crew return vehicle (ACRV) Soyuz has been in development for more than 30 years. Several features distinguish the ACRV from the Soyuz model already in use.

"It has seats which can accommodate crew members of greater height and weight than typical Russian cosmonauts," a leading ACRV designer at RSC Energia told SPACE.com. "This was [developed based on] the requirements of our U.S. colleagues. They did not want to limit any space flyers' ability to fly due to his size."

The changes in weight requirements dictated a modification to the ACRV's soft-landing system. The onboard computer was also upgraded to assure a more accurate landing for the capsule.

In a related development, Khrunichev Space Center spokesman Sergey Zhiltsov said the recently announced proposal to replace the ISS' docking and stowage module (DSM) by a Spacehab-funded and RSC Energia-developed Enterprise module, did not sound feasible. The Enterprise is a serious competitor to Boeing/Khrunichev's commercial service module (CSM).

"CSM, which is based on the [Zarya] module, is 70-percent completed," said Zhiltsov. "It makes much more sense to proceed with CSM than to wait for Enterprise. If Enterprise is preferred to CSM, it will be a political decision, not a technical or economic one."