Skylab Space Station Program

A Commemorative Plaque honoring Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement signed on October 3, 1979

Official state emblem of the collaborative Skylab program

## Agency Overview

### Field offices

John F. Kennedy Space Center,European Space Research and Technology Centre,

European Astronaut Centre,

São Paulo Astronaut Training Facility,

Tsukuba Space Center,

4 World Trade Center,

Sydney Space Launch Complex,

Baikonur Cosmodrome,

Star City,

Chris A. Hadfield Rocket Factory,

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center

### Motto

Off the Earth, For the Earth, and for the Future of Exploration and Discovery

### Agency ececutives

Ronald Reagan - President,Gene Kranz - Administrator,

Alessandro Pierozan - Chief Astronaut,

Roger M. Boisjoly - Head of Engineering Safety Systems,

Ernest Moniz - Secretary of Energy and Physics,

Martyn Poliakoff - Head of Chemistry,

Raphael J. Chryslar - Head of Station Operations

The **Skylab Space Station Program** is tied together by a complex set of legal, political and financial agreements between the many nations involved in the project, governing ownership and operations of the various components, rights to crewing and utilization, and responsibilities for crew rotation and resupply of the Skylab Workshop Station.

## Multi-governmental aspects

As part of the United Nations Space Development Committee, the legal structure that regulates the station is multi-layered.

The primary layer establishing obligations and rights between the SWS partners is the Space Station Inter-governmental Agreement (IGA), an international treaty signed on October 3, 1976 by forty-four governments involved in the Space Station project. The Skylab Workshop Station consists of . Article 1 outlines its purpose:

*This Agreement is a long term international co-operative framework on the basis of genuine partnership, for the detailed design, development, operation, and utilization of a permanently inhabited civil Space Station for peaceful purposes, in accordance with international law*.

The secondary legal layer of agreements includes the SWS code of conduct, setting out criminal jurisdiction, anti-harassment and certain other behavior rules for Skylab crewmembers.

### Utilization

There is no fixed percentage of ownership for the whole space station. Rather, Article 5 of the IGA sets forth that

> *"...each partner shall retain jurisdiction and control over the elements it registers and over personnel in or on the Space Station who are its nationals"*
>
>

Therefore, for each module of the Skylab Workshop Station, only one partner retains sole ownership.

The IGA (on behalf of the UN-SDC) also establishes that a three-branch of 'station goverment' to operate the orbital outpost, with the European Space Agency being the main leader in the whole program, with NASA and AEB as its 'deputies'. It oversees many operations including recruiment of new participants in the program.

Recently, two United States Marshals (Samuel Gerard and Noah Newman) recently boarded the Skylab Workshop Station to keep the security of the station at optimum levels, following the current Skylab Workshop Station Expansion Project - with more modules and more crew capacity to 200 individuals, commenced as of June 1986.

## Components

The Skylab Workshop Station is divided into two main segments, each managed by different nations:

### Habitation and Science Segment

This segment is so large it's split into two main areas:

#### International Modular Section

* Node 1 *Unity —* 🇺🇸
* Node 2 *Harmony —*🇪🇺
* Node 3 *Tranquility —*🇪🇺
* *Odyssey* Laboratory —🇺🇸
* *Serenity* Laboratory —🇦🇺🇳🇿
* *Sydney* Airlock —🇦🇺
* Joint Experiments Module —🇧🇷🇦🇷🇯🇵
* *Columbus* Laboratory —🇮🇹🇬🇧🇪🇸🇫🇷🇩🇪🇨🇿🇵🇹🇷🇺🇷🇴🇨🇭🇧🇪🇳🇴🇳🇱🇸🇪🇩🇰🇪🇪🇮🇸🇮🇱🇮🇪🇭🇺🇬🇷
* Quest Airlock —🇺🇸
* *Aquarius* Music Laboratory —🇧🇷🇦🇷🇪🇺🇺🇸🇻🇪🇬🇭🇮🇳🇨🇦🇵🇪🇪🇨🇧🇸🇩🇴🇨🇷🇰🇿🇮🇱🇲🇽🇰🇷
* PMA 1 —🇺🇸
* PMA 2 —🇪🇺
* PMA 3 —🇺🇳
* *Fabio* Science and Utilities Module —🇮🇹🇬🇧
* *Leonardo* Compact Multi-purpose Module —🇺🇳
* Canadian Library Module —🇨🇦
* Auxiliary Habitation Module —🇪🇺
* Shuttle adapter —🇺🇸🇨🇦🇬🇧🇷🇺🇱🇺🇨🇭🇪🇺🇺🇦

#### Core Section

* Marine Sciences Laboratory —🇿🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿🇬🇧
* Core Habitation Module —🇺🇳
* Server Module —🇺🇳
* Greenhouse Laboratory —🇧🇷🇦🇷
* WiFi and Internet Processing Module —🇺🇸🇨🇦🇧🇷🇬🇧🇷🇺🇪🇺
* Zenith Habitation Module —🇺🇳
* South Cupola —🇺🇳
* Communal Meeting Module —🇺🇳
* North Cupola —🇺🇸
* Control Module —🇺🇳

### Workshop Segment

The Workshop Segment is not only the largest single module on the station, but itself its own station segment. It is governed not as a separate entity where one country owns it, but collectivly as a whole internationally-shared segment, where any astronaut from anyplace around the glove can freely use it for any scientific and/or technological purpose.