Article Posted on : - Sep 16, 2009

A File Photo

MOSCOW (BNS): Chiefs of space agencies of ISS partners will meet in November to discuss the possibility of extending the International Space Station lifespan to 2020, said Alexei Krasnov, a top official of Russia's Federal Space Agency.

According to the inter-governmental agreement, the time limit of the space station is 2015, but this limit is purely technical, Krasnov was quoted as saying Wednesday by Russian news agency Itar –Tass.

"This limit results from technical capacities of certain units and modules of the station," he added.

Americans are actively extending the service life of the ISS first unit - the Zarya module - whose service life is limited to 2013, the report said.

The Russian segment of the ISS will also be enlarged with three modules before 2012. The existent Zvezda, Zarya and Pirs will be supplemented with three research modules - MIM2, MIM1 and MLM (multifunctional laboratory module).

The heavy multifunctional laboratory module MLM will be brought to orbit in 2011 and enlarge the programme of Russian experiments inside and outside the ISS.

The European and Japanese space agencies, which became actively involved in the ISS project only after the addition of Columbus and Kibo modules to the station, have big plans for fundamental and applied studies in space, it added.