By Anatoly Zak A David-and-Goliath battle is about to be waged about 200 miles (320 kilometers) above Earth as two aerospace ventures vie for the same docking port on the
International Space Station (ISS).In an interview with SPACE.com, a
Boeing spokesman said the company is planning to dock the Commercial Space Module (CSM) -- co-created with Russian space company Khrunichev Enterprise -- on the Russian side of the station at the so-called nadir docking port -- the one pointing to Earth. "We are doing a lot of analysis, there are options," said Boeings Mike Albright, program manager for the commercial space module. "But I think right now one of the prime options they are looking at is the nadir port of FGB 1."
The Russian-built FGB or "
Zarya" (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 fledgling outpost.
The Zarya control module -- the tugboat of the ISS -- was launched by a Russian Proton rocket in October 1999.
The FGB's docking point already has been booked by the small but mighty
SpaceHab of Washington, D.C. The company has launched a joint commercial space-module project called Enterprise with RKK Energia, based in Korolev, Russia. SpaceHab declined comment on the deal. But sources familiar with the SpaceHab-RKK Energia venture claim the deal for SpaceHabs access to the docking port is in the bag.
"What it comes down to is who has the upper hand and who has control," the source said. "And SpaceHab clearly has the contract for that particular port."
However, people close to the negotiations still believe that there is room for the Boeing-Khrunichev venture to leapfrog the SpaceHab-Energia module.
"It would be no surprise if the Russians are cutting deals with both sides for access to the same docking port," said another source familiar with the situation. "It wouldnt 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."
In addition to Boeings lead on the 16-nation, $60 billion project, Khrunichev is one of the principal developers for Russian-built space station components such as Zarya and the recently arrived
Zvezda service module. But the Russians were a little more diplomatic in their responses Monday, saying the solution for the perceived conflict will come with the launch of the Universal Docking Module (UDM) a few years from now.
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The UDM "will have plenty of docking ports," said Yuri Grigoriev, deputy designer general of RKK Energia in Moscow. "The UDM can take off in 2003 if funds for its construction are delivered."
Grigoriev defended both ventures, saying that it was a sign of healthy competition.
"You see, everybody tries to survive," he said. "The same situation exists with communications satellites, launch vehicles and so on."
SpaceHabs 12-foot- (3.7-meter-) diameter, 36-foot- (11-meter-) long Enterprise module is being built at Energias Korolev construction facility and will be launched into orbit by the Russian Space Agency atop a Zenit-class rocket.
One portion of the Enterprise will be devoted to research activities that would require an extended time in space, such as protein-crystal growth or materials research.
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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.
Boeings yet-to-be-named venture 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.
Launched aboard Russias Proton rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the CSM could be in orbit as early as mid 2002, Boeing said.
"The module is about 70-percent complete," Boeings Albright said.
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