Article 7
Management
1. Management of the Space Station will be established on a multilateral basis and the
Partners, acting through their Cooperating Agencies, will participate and discharge
responsibilities in management bodies established in accordance with the MOUs and
implementing arrangements as provided below. These management bodies shall plan and
coordinate activities affecting the design and development of the Space Station and its safe,
efficient, and effective operation and utilization, as provided in this Agreement and the
MOUs. In these management bodies, decision-making by consensus shall be the goal.
Mechanisms for decision-making within these management bodies where it is not possible for
the Cooperating Agencies to reach consensus are specified in the MOUs. Decision-making
responsibilities which the Partners and their Cooperating Agencies have with respect to the
elements they provide are specified in this Agreement and the MOUs.
2. The United States, acting through NASA, and in accordance with the MOUs and
implementing arrangements, shall be responsible for management of its own program,
including its utilization activities. The United States, acting through NASA, and in
accordance with the MOUs and implementing arrangements, shall also be responsible for:
overall program management and coordination of the Space Station, except as otherwise
provided in this Article and in the MOUs; overall system engineering and integration;
establishment of overall safety requirements and plans; and overall planning for and
coordination of the execution of the overall integrated operation of the Space Station.
Canada, the European Partner, Japan and Russia, acting through their Cooperating
Agencies, and in accordance with the MOUs and implementing arrangements, shall each be
responsible for: management of their own programs, including their utilization activities;
system engineering and integration of the elements they provide; development and
implementation of detailed safety requirements and plans for the elements they provide; and,
consistent with paragraph 2 above, supporting the United States in the performance of its
overall responsibilities, including participating in planning for and coordination of the
execution of the integrated operation of the Space Station.
4. To the extent that a design and development matter concerns only a Space Station
element provided by Canada, the European Partner, Japan, or Russia and is not covered in the
agreed program documentation provided for in the MOUs, that Partner, acting through its
Cooperating Agency, may make decisions related to that element.