ISS faces logistics issue after Shuttle retirement

摘要

ESA's director general Jean-Jaques Dordain wants to see at least ten years of utilisation of Europe's Columbus laboratory after it is launched to the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of next year. A new launch date for Columbus in 2007 was agreed as part of a new Shuttle launch schedule when the heads of the ISS partner agencies met in March. "There is an on-going discussion about how long the Space Station will be used after the current agreements expire in 2015 and it is something we will come back to within the next six months," Dordain said.