NASA Eyes Japan’s ISS Supply Vehicle

You’ve probably heard in recent years that NASA is decommissioning the Space Shuttles (1970’s technology don’t you know) in the year 2010.

You may have also heard in recent weeks that the replacement for the Shuttle will be using the old school method of having a launch vehicle and a spacecraft mounted atop it. The launch vehicle Ares I and the Orion spacecraft are horribly over budget and behind schedule. So much so that NASA is at risk of having no method of boosting its own projects into space, especially wrt continuing to build out the International Space Station.

It now appears that NASA may be hedging its bets a little and quietly negotiating with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to purchase their H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) to ensure they can meet their obligations in the interim.