Boeing, Russians Sign Space Deal

Boeing Defense & Space Group signed a $190 million joint contract Tuesday with a Russian space contractor to produce a modified Russian space unit for the upcoming space station.

The deal, signed with Khrunichev of Moscow, will develop and produce Russia’s Functional Energy Block, called “the first building block” for the space station, according to Doug Stone, a Boeing Defense & Space Group vice president.

The unit will be the first component of NASA’s international project that calls for the building in orbit of a permanent laboratory.

The energy block will be the first component of the space station to be launched in November 1997.

The Russian unit will serve as a fuel and equipment storage facility.

The space station is being built in partnership with Russia, the European Space Agency, Canada and Japan.

Plans call for Russia to receive $400 million a year from NASA to finance booster rockets and other hardware that the Russians are providing.