MOSCOW -- The head of the Russian Space Agency acknowledged Monday that Moscow had let down its partners in the new International Space Station by failing to deliver vital components on time.
"The schedule for building the station was developed so that everything began overall from a Russian segment, so all of our mistakes, all of our delays create a basis for delaying everything else," Yuri Koptev told Ekho Moskvy radio. "I have to say above all that we are letting our partners down a little."
Russia is more than a year behind in building the vital living quarters -- called the service module -- for the International Space Station, which brings together Russia, the United States, Japan, Europe, and Canada.
The first two modules are already orbiting Earth, but no astronauts can occupy the station until the Russian service module supplies the life-support systems.
Koptev said the living quarters should be ready to ship to the launch site next month, where it will need four or five months of testing. That means a launch between July and September, he said.
"I think in the near future as soon as we complete our obligations on the service module, it will become clear that we are not the only ones with delays," Koptev said.
The first crew is due to fly on the station in January 2000.
Copyright© 1999 Reuters Limited.
