International Space Station Water System Architecture and Operational Plan

The International Space Station (ISS) is gaining many new capabilities in 2008. The delivery of the United States Operation Segment (USOS) Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) Systems allow for the ISS crew expansion from 3 to 6 members. The ability to process recovered condensate and produce oxygen from water has been available on the Russian Segment (RS) since the astronauts and cosmonauts have been living on the ISS. The U.S. systems introduce the ability to process urine in addition to condensate greatly reducing the amount of water needed from the ground each year while also reducing the amount of time astronauts need to spend maintaining the systems. However, the interconnectedness of these systems may create operational difficulties and cause the loss of otherwise recoverable water.

This paper outlines the current and future USOS and Russian system architectures, system interdependencies and the inter-segment relationships. The current and future resupply needs are also discussed, as well as the expected ISS program savings that will be gained with the operation of the USOS Water Recovery Systems (WRS).