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Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement

Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement
01/28/1998 AD treaty with

The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest and most complex international science and engineering project in history, taking advantage of the technical expertise of the participating countries. As such, it required a multinational framework to make it possible. On January 29, 1998, senior government officials from 15 participating nations met at the US State Department in Washington, DC, and signed agreements to establish that framework for cooperation. For the United States, Acting Secretary of State Strobe Talbot signed an international treaty called the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on Space Station Cooperation, along with representatives from Russia, Japan, Canada and participating countries of the European Space Agency (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and The United Kingdom). The agreement superseded the earlier 1988 ISS IGA, the modification made necessary largely by the decision to include Russia in the partnership.

The new IGA established the overall cooperative framework for the design, development, operation and utilization of the ISS and addressed several legal topics, including civil and criminal jurisdiction, intellectual property and the operational responsibilities of the participating partners. Lower level bilateral Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) were signed that same day by NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin with his Russian, European, and Canadian counterparts and on February 24 with Japanese representatives. The MOU’s described the roles and responsibilities of the partners in more detail. A third layer consists of bartered contractual agreements establishing the trading of the partners’ rights and duties.

→ NASA, *20 Years Ago: Station Partners Sign Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA)+

Washington, D.C.

Lattitude: 38.9072° N
Longitude: 77.0369° W
Region: North America