The leaders of the space agencies taking part in the International Space Station program, including NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos), met today at ESA's Headquarters in Paris to discuss the status of the space station program.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the international partners reaffirmed their commitment to working together on the development, assembly and use of the orbiting laboratory for scientific and applied research. In particular, the partners noted the tremendous achievements that have already been accomplished through their cooperation on the International Space Station, which has so far been assembled with nearly flawless precision.

During their meeting the international partners discussed and agreed upon a timeline for next steps to assure that the space station can be assembled and operated in a way that meets its unique world-class research objectives, while not compromising the basic requirements of sound system engineering and safety.