From 1994 through 2010, NASA estimates that it directly invested  over $48 billion in development and construction of the on-orbit scientific  laboratory, the ISS. With ISS expected to be in use only through  2015, this slower pace shortened the amount of time NASA had available  to take advantage of the significant monetary investment and to fully  utilize the station. NASA planned for the space shuttle to serve as the means of transporting  crew, hardware, and supplies to the ISS through the end of the station’s  life. NASA Faces Challenges Transporting Cargo and Crew to and from the ISS

The greatest challenge facing NASA is transporting cargo and crew to  and from the ISS to make effective use of the ISS. NASA’s  decision to rely on the new commercial vehicles is inherently risky  because the vehicles are still in development and not yet proven or fully  operational. NASA Plans to Use International Partner and Commercial Flights but International Agreements Are Not in Place and Commercial Vehicles Remain Unproven

NASA is relying on 51 flights of international partner and commercial  vehicles to transport cargo to the ISS from 2012 through 2020, but  agreements for international flights after 2016 are not in place and the  commercial vehicles are unproven. NASA does not have agreements in place for  international partners to provide cargo services to the ISS beyond 2016. If the international partner agreements and commercial service provider  contracts do not materialize as NASA plans for the years beyond 2016,  this could lead to a potential cargo shortfall. NASA Lacks a Domestic Ability to Transport Crew to the ISS until at Least 2017

NASA faces two major challenges in transporting crew to the ISS— adjusting its acquisition strategy for crew vehicles to match available  funding and deciding if and when to purchase crew seats on the Russian  Soyuz in case domestic commercial crew vehicles are not available as  planned in 2017. Additionally, the agency faces another looming challenge—a decision  about if and when to purchase crew space on the Russian Soyuz vehicle. NASA will likely need to decide by the end of 2013 whether to purchase  additional seats that might be needed beyond 2016 because the lead  time for acquiring additional seats on the Soyuz is 3 years. These  restrictions prohibit NASA from making certain payments to Russia in  connection with the ISS unless the President makes a determination. NASA Faces Challenges Maximizing ISS Research Utilization

NASA’s greatest challenge to utilizing the ISS for its intended purpose— scientific research—is inextricably linked with the agency’s ability to carry  scientific experiments and payloads to and from the ISS. As mentioned previously, SpaceX, however, will provide NASA  with the capability to transport research payloads back to earth. Since the establishment of CASIS as  the management body of ISS research is relatively recent, we have not  examined its effectiveness; therefore, it is too early for us to say whether  it will be successful in ensuring full scientific utilization of the station as a  national laboratory. NASA Has a Reasonable Approach to Meeting the Challenge of Estimating ISS Spares and Assessing Structural Health and Safety

We recently reported that NASA has an appropriate and reasonable  approach in place to determine the spares needed for the ISS as well as  to assess ISS structural health and safety. NASA currently anticipates that—with some mitigation—the ISS will  remain structurally sound for continued operations through 2020. This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the  United States.
Why GAO Did This Study

Construction of the International Space Station (ISS) required dedication and effort on the part of many nations to be successful. Further, the funding necessary to accomplish this task was significant, with the United States alone directly investing nearly $50 billion in its development. As construction of the on-orbit laboratory is complete, now is the time for the United States and its partners to make use of this investment and recently, Congress took steps to extend the life of the ISS until at least 2020.
GAO has cautioned for years that NASA should ensure it has a capability to access and utilize the space station following retirement of the space shuttle in 2011. We have highlighted the challenges associated with transporting cargo and crew to and from the ISS, as well as the difficulties NASA faces in ensuring the ISS supports its purpose of scientific research and in safely operating the station. Some risks have been realized. For example, commercial vehicles are significantly behind schedulewith the first launch to the space station planned for 2012.
GAO's statement today will focus on the progress NASA has made and the challenges the agency faces in accessing, ensuring full utilization of, and sustaining the ISS. To prepare this statement, GAO relied on prior relevant work on the ISS and NASA's commercial cargo and crew efforts and conducted a limited amount of additional work to update planned flight information.

What GAO Found

NASA plans to use international partner and new domestic commercial launch vehicles to access, utilize, and sustain the International Space Station from 2012 through 2020. However, the agency faces challenges in transporting cargo and crew to the ISS as well as ensuring the station is fully utilized. NASAs decision to rely on the new commercial vehicles to transport cargo starting in 2012 and to transport crew starting in 2017 is inherently risky because the vehicles are not yet proven and are experiencing delays in development. Further, NASA does not have agreements in place for international partners to provide cargo services to the ISS beyond 2016. The agency will also face a decision regarding the need to purchase additional seats on the Russian Soyuz vehicle beyond 2016, likely before commercial vehicles have made significant progress in development, given the three-year lead time necessary for acquiring a seat. This decision is further complicated because restrictions prohibit NASA from making certain payments to Russia in connection with the ISS unless the President makes a determination. Further, NASA currently expects to transport all cargo needed by the ISS in 51 flights through 2020, but if international partner agreements and commercial service contracts do not materialize as the agency plans for the years beyond 2016, the situation could lead to a potential cargo shortfall.
If NASA can access the station, it will next be challenged with fully utilizing the ISS national laboratory for its intended purposescientific research. To take steps to meet this challenge and consistent with a 2009 GAO recommendation, in 2011 NASA selected an organization to centrally oversee ISS national laboratory research decision-making. It is too soon, however, to determine whether this organization is ensuring full scientific utilization of the ISS. Regardless of the efforts of the management body, as GAO noted in a 2009 report, constraints on crew time for conducting science could also impact full utilization.
If NASA can overcome its challenges related to accessing the station, it has reasonable approaches in place for estimating spare parts and assessing the structural health of the space station. These approaches provide NASA with increased assurance that the agency will have sufficient spares and will put mitigations in place to effectively and safely utilize the space station.