NASA Space Station Cost Estimate Is 30% Low, Study Reportedly Finds

A research panel will report next week that NASA’s $14.6-billion estimate for building a permanent manned space station is 30% too low, an industry magazine reported Friday.

A report by the National Research Council, a unit of the National Academy of Sciences, will say that the space agency projection fails to include funds for such station-related items as payloads and tracking and data support, Aviation Week & Space Technology said.

The council’s report is to be released next week.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials believe the report is generally favorable on the station “but it does question whether the Phase 2 configuration is correct to support future space goals,” the magazine said.

Spokesman Mark Hess said NASA understands the report will say that additional tests and backup equipment could cost from $200 million to $3.9 billion.

“We don’t agree with that estimate,” Hess said. He said the agency believes it already has accounted for much of the testing and spare parts.

The space agency plans to assemble the station in orbit in two steps.

The first phase would begin in 1994 and would include modules, laboratories and equipment to support eight people.

The second phase, to start at an undetermined date, would include an improved power system and upper and lower booms to which additional modules could be attached.