Russian Official Heads for Space Congress As Work on Science Module Goes On

Excerpt from report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS

Moscow, 3 October: The heads of the Russian, US and European space agencies are to discuss the future of the International Space Station (ISS) in Vancouver, Canada. “The head of the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos), Anatoliy Perminov, flies out to Canada today to take part in the 55th session of the International Space Congress, which is taking place in Vancouver from 4 to 8 October,” an ITAR- TASS correspondent was told by official Roskosmos spokesman Vyacheslav Davidenko. [Passage omitted]

In anticipation of Shuttle flights, on earth the Russian scientific module, FGB-2, is being prepared for launch. “Financing of the module, which is being developed at the Khrunichev State Space Centre, is to begin in 2005, and it is planned to put it into orbit in 2007,” Perminov said. “Starting from next year the development of the Russian segment of the ISS is becoming a priority for us,” he stressed.