Second-Tier Agreements in the International Space Station (ISS) Program: Their Legal Basis, Critical Benefits, and Precedent for the Future
- Paper number
IAC-05-E6.2.06
- Author
Ms. Donna Bartoe, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Johnson Space Center, United States
- Year
2005
- Abstract
Through intelligent foresight of the nations involved in the ISS, the initial top-level international agreements that formed the partnership contained language allowing second-tier implementing arrangements. This structure has proved essential to the success of the ISS Program. This paper will explain the key elements of the agreement hierarchy and how it can serve as a model for future, large-scale multinational cooperative space activities. The ISS Program is a cooperative international endeavor involving the following Partners: the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), and as participants through NASA, the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The ISS partnership was originally established without the Russians or the participants through a series of international agreements executed in September 1988. A new Intergovernmental Agreement and Partner Memoranda of Understanding were executed in January 1998. The new agreements supersede the originals and were written to add Russia to the partnership and reflect significant changes in the ISS Program following redesign activity that commenced in 1993. The ISS agreements contemplated implementing arrangements, which are essentially second tier international agreements that further establish additional detailed understandings to effect conduct of the partnership. Such agreements include the participant Memoranda of Understanding between NASA and ASI and NASA and AEB that provide for additional ISS flight hardware to be developed by the participants in exchange for ISS utilization opportunities for them. Other agreements between NASA and the other Partners provide for early Partner utilization opportunities in exchange for the Partners providing payload hardware for NASA’s use. Implementing arrangements have also been signed under which a Partner provides necessary hardware for NASA’s use to compensate NASA through barter for launch and assembly of the Partners’ ISS elements on the Space Shuttle. Other second tier arrangements, such as the 1996 NASA/Roscosmos Balance of Contributions and an agreement between NASA and CSA, cover the detailed equitable sharing of common systems operations costs, which are costs attributed to operation of the ISS as a whole, and other bilateral operational matters. This paper will describe all these second tier ISS international agreements in detail, including those yet to be executed such as commons systems operations cost arrangements between NASA and ESA and NASA and JAXA, and updates to the NASA/Russia Balance of Contributions necessitated by ISS changes due to after-affects from the Columbia accident and cancellation of NASA’s Crew Rescue Vehicle (CRV), among others. The paper will also discuss potential application of this hierarchical, time-phased series of international agreements that provide flexibility for evolving program operations over time to future, large-scale international cooperative activities such as those implementing the U.S. Exploration Vision.
- Abstract document