THE SPACE STATION COOPERATION FRAMEWORK

International cooperation on Space Station started as a result of an i nvitation to friends and allies of the United States, formulated in Ja nuary 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, to participate in the developme nt and use of a permanently manned Space Station. This cooperation was formalised by the signing of a first series of international agreemen ts on 29 September 1988. The cooperative framework established by thos e agreements required major restructuring because of a significant red esign of the US Space Station programme ordered by President Bill Clin ton on his arrival at the White House at the beginning of 1993, and th e subsequent invitation made to Russia by the original Partners to bec ome a major player in the project.