By Nicole Mortillaro, CBC News Posted: Mar 04, 2018
The U.S. pays most of the bills, but its partners have a big say in what happens with the ISSThe International Space Station is considered a shining example of the uniting power of science. Since the late 1980s, countries that were once at war with each other have worked together to further scientific research applied both on Earth and in space.
But in its proposed 2019 budget released last month, the United States, the biggest financial backer of the ISS, indicated it will stop funding the station in 2025, and instead look at transitioning the orbiting laboratory to commercial enterprises.
The headlines that followed seemed to suggest the U.S. plans to sell the station and moonwalk away. But experts say it's not quite that simple.
For starters, the U.S. doesn't have the authority to go ahead and privatize the entire space station. The U.S. could essentially rent out its share of the station, says Ram Jakhu, who teaches international space law at McGill University in Montreal.
"The U.S. may use its part for private purposes … so the whole idea of saying privatizing [the station] is wrong."
More:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/international-space-station-commercialized-1.4543351
