Posts: 867
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011

posted 07-17-2011 01:31 PM               

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I was wondering, does anyone have any idea what the cost structure of the ISS is? By this I mean, as a percentage, how much of the ISS did each partner pay for?

I would assume the Russian contribution would have two variants... first, their total contribution, and second, how much of that was subsidized by the US taxpayer? Thank you!

Posts: 616
From:
Registered: Aug 2006

posted 07-17-2011 10:06 PM               

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According to the website whatitcosts.com the breakdown is as follows

International Space Station Costs (NASA) Total: $54 to 59 billion

1994 – 2005 - $26 billion
2006 – 2007 - $4 billion
2008 – 2016 - $24 to 29 billion (projected)
Space Shuttle Program: $38 billion

Total estimated costs:

U.S.: $100 billion
Europe: $14 billion
Japan: $10 billion
Russia: Unknown
Canada: $2 billion

If those costs are even close to the actual percentages the US Taxpayer has been hosed.

Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 07-18-2011 05:21 AM               

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If those costs include launch costs as well as construction I'd say the US taxpayer got a good deal.

US trips: 234
US fliers: 138

Russia trips: 51
Russia fliers: 35

EU trips: 17
EU fliers: 12

You can't simply take the raw figures and say who got a good or bad deal. Who derived most from the program - technology spinoffs, jobs, research etc?
As for the Russian "subsidies" I have yet to see any hard figures other than the Soyuz cost per seat that NASA and the US administration have backed themselves into through lack of foresight. The issue should be value-for-money not absolute cost.