NASA to complete International Space Station

NASA alongwith its European & Japanese partners have set a new plan to complete the International Space Station (ISS) by 2010, earlier than originally planned to ensure they were functioning by 2010, when the orbiting space laboratory is to be fully assembled.

The new sequence moves up launch of Europe's Columbus module to the seventh shuttle flight and moves up launch of Japan's Kibo module two flights, to the ninth mission.

The first of three components for the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) – or Kibo – are slated for 2007, one flight earlier, during the eighth scheduled orbiter mission, said Keiji Tachikawa, head of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The remaining two components are set for the ninth and twelfth shuttle missions, he added.