The Science Power Platform (SPP; , ''Sci-Energy Platform'', also known by Russian initialism NEP) was a planned

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n element of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

(ISS) that was intended to be delivered to the ISS by a Russian

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Zenit rocket Zenit (, ; meaning ''Zenith'') was a family of space launch vehicles designed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnipro, Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. Zenit was originally built in the 1980s for two purposes: as a liquid rocke ...

(it was originally designed to be part of Mir-2) but was shifted to launch by

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as part as a tradeoff agreement on other parts of the ISS.

History

It would have provided additional power for the ISS as well as roll axis control capability for the orbital facility. If the Science Power Platform had been delivered to the ISS, it would have been attached to the zenith port of ''Zvezda'', a position currently occupied by ''Poisk''. The SPP would have had eight solar arrays and a robotic arm provided by the

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(ESA) dedicated to maintaining the SPP. The SPP's robotic arm ( European Robotic Arm) was still added and is currently a part of the station, and launched together with the Russian ''Nauka'' Multipurpose Laboratory Module on 21 July 2021, after many delays. An agreement was reached in March 2006 by the Russians and NASA in order to provide part of the power the Russian segments need from the four American solar arrays. Originally the SPP should have made the power supply of the four Russian modules independent from the power supply of the rest of the station. The already-made pressurised hull of a static test article for this component is now being used for the Russian Mini Research Module 1, which launched on STS-132 in 2010. ''Rassvet'' is docked to the ''Zarya'' nadir port. RKK Energia, the manufacturer of the

Russian Orbital Segment The Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) is the name given to the components of the International Space Station (ISS) constructed in Russia and operated by the Russian Roscosmos. The ROS handles Guidance, Navigation, and Control for the entire Station ...

components, has proposed something similar to the original ISS plan with the addition of a nodal module (with six docking ports) and two additional science/energy modules called Science Power Module 1 and 2 to the segment around 2013-2015. The Science Power Modules would perform similar functions and would have solar arrays similar to the SPP, but unlike it the truss structure would be much smaller. As of 2021, the Science Power Module(s) (unknown whether one or two modules) is still being considered, but nothing has been launched. The nodal module, named ''Prichal'', docked to the ISS on November 26, 2021.

References

{{ISS modules Russian components of the International Space Station Cancelled spacecraft