The Journey of Flight.pdf - Valkyrie Cadet

Chapter Chapter 26 26 - - Unmanned Unmanned Exploration
Exploration
International Space Station
The ITU also recognized that other useful orbits may eventually become overcrowded. Military,
civil and commercial systems all vie for a limited spectrum of radio frequencies. And new orbits are
being used. Communication systems are being designed for low Earth orbits. The Iridium system
consists of 77 satellites in low Earth orbit. These factors led the ITU to consider allocations in low
Earth orbit.
Space as a limited natural resource is not the only issue that plagues nations. The cost of exploring
and exploiting space is another. Some projects are simply too large for a single nation. The International
Space Station is a prime example of such a combined effort. Proposed in 1984, the first International
Space Station Agreement was signed in 1988. The United States provides overall management
of the program.
The United States also provides the infrastructure and operating subsystems. Subsystems consist
of life support, power, laboratory and habitation modules. Japan, European Space Agency (ESA) and
Canada were to be other participants. Each was to provide elements of the station. Russia joined the
team in 1993 and, in 1998, a new agreement was signed. The new agreement includes Russian participation
and provides for more international involvement. It also reflects design changes made to reduce
costs.
The Space Station Project is the largest and most complex international science and engineering
program ever. A multitude of issues needed to be settled. Most of them concerned how the members
would work together. They detailed who would do what and who would bear the costs. These were
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