NASA plans to extend space station support

NASA wants to keep supplying the international space station with its successor to the space shuttle until 2020 — four years longer than previously planned, the manager of the space agency's exploration program said Tuesday.

NASA's timetable calls for retiring the space shuttle fleet in 2010, then relying on its international partners or commercial services for space station resupply in the 2010-2014 time frame. In the meantime, the agency would develop and build a capsule-type spacecraft dubbed the Orion, designed primarily for lunar exploration.

In the past, NASA has said the Orion could be used to ferry crews, supplies and equipment between Earth and the space station until 2016. After that time, the Orion would have been reserved for missions leading up to a moon landing by 2020, and NASA would rely on others to provide station resupply services.

That was the original plan. But the arrangement led some of NASA's international partners to wonder whether the United States would stay committed to space station operations after 2016 — and on Tuesday, Jeff Hanley, program manager for NASA's exploration program, said the original plan has been changed.

"The supposition previously had been that station flights (by Orion vehicles) would end in 2016," said Jeff Hanley, program manager for NASA's new exploration initiative. "That's not the guidance we're being given now."

Instead, NASA wants to ensure Orion vehicles can make at least two missions to the space station per year through 2020, he said.

Slideshow  12 photos

Month in Space: January 2014

From a launch out of the weeds to a special delivery in orbit, see the best space offerings from January 2014.

"That may be crew rotations going to station, that could be servicing missions to the station with specialized crews to go up and do special work. We don't know. But we think it's a reasonable frequency of flying and production to base our budgets on at this point in the program," Hanley said in an interview.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Hanley was at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to mark the transfer of a historic Apollo-era building to the Orion program for spacecraft assembly and testing. Last year, Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract for Orion, and the company will be in charge of refurbishing the Operations & Checkout Building for its new role.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Further details on NASA's budget are due to be released on Monday.

This report includes information from Reuters and MSNBC.com.