Initially, the new ship is supposed to take over shuttle duties to low orbit and the ISS. Later, NASA hopes to be able to use it for manned missions to the moon – or even Mars.

The US is not interested in co-operating with other countries in the Orion’s design and construction. NASA has barred non-American partners from the consortiums that will be building the craft, saying it wants to keep sole control of the key technologies involved in US hands. That’s why the EU is now considering plans for a manned space vessel of its own, which could be built together with Russia.

Plans for the Advanced Crew Transportation System (ACTS) envision a craft that is capable not only of reaching low earth orbit for use in ISS activities, but that could also one day reach the moon. Plans for the ACTS call for large-scale recycling of already existing technologies in the spacecraft’s design.

At the core of the planned vessel is a new version of the Soyuz capsule. This successor to the trusted old design will also be carried into space by a launch vehicle. Able to carry four astronauts and a great deal more supplies than the older model, the ACTS should be able to spend at least 18 days in space. For a return journey to the moon, it would be outfitted with improved heat shielding and a new ‘interplanetary’ navigation system.

It has not yet been decided whether the ambitious plans will actually be carried through. That decision will only be made in 2008, when the technology and mission briefs have been worked out in detail – and when it’s clear how much the project would cost.