Russia’s Woes Could Delay Space Station

The start of construction of the international space station will probably be delayed until next year because of trouble Russia is having in financing its share of the project, the head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Wednesday.

Daniel Goldin, the administrator of the space agency, told a congressional committee that he believed the schedule for launching the first components of the orbiting laboratory might be put off from November until mid-1998 because a vital Russian segment was behind schedule.

But Goldin stressed that no final decision on the launching schedule would be made before April and that even with early deployment delays, the station still could be finished on schedule, now planned for late in 2002.