MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The next meeting of heads of space agencies of participants in the International Space Station project is to be held in Moscow, Vyacheslav Davidenko, press-secretary of the head of the Russian Space Agency, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.
"At the Montreal meeting the heads of space agencies of participants in the ISS project (Russia, the U.S., EU, Canada, and Japan) have accepted Russian Space Agency head Anatoly Perminov's offer to conduct the next meeting in Moscow," Davidenko said.
The ISS multi-lateral coordination council is working in Montreal at the moment.
According to Davidenko, the date of the Moscow meeting is yet to be defined and will depend on the ISS project realization.
Davidenko also noted that heads of space agencies, meeting in Montreal, were to sign a cornerstone document, defining further fate of ISS, its construction deadline and operation, as well as participation of all partners in the large-scale project.
According to him, all major provisions of the agreement have already been discussed, and all necessary amendments introduced, while the ISS multi-lateral coordination council is not wrapping up its consultations.
As was reported in the press, the Russian side intends to raise the issue of modifying the procedure of financing Russian Progress and Soyuz spacecraft launches, which after the U.S. shuttle tragedy on February 1, 2003, have been shouldering the whole burden of supporting the ISS.