Canadian RMS 1989 Credit - NASA via Marcus Lindroos Media Gallery

When the Space Station plan was changed in 1987, its satellite servicing element was postponed indefinitely. The Canadian robotic arm was now necessary for assembling the Station itself, since the Shuttle's existing 'Canadarm' manipulator only could handle 29.5t loads. The redesigned 'Canadian Mobile Servicing Center' would be used to dock the Shuttle and, possibly, payloads launched on expendable launchers to the Station.

The 1987 Space Station redesign greatly increased the importance of the Canadian contribution to the international project. Canada joined the project in March 1985 and initially proposed an 'Integrated Servicing and Test Facility' that would have consisted of two robotic arms plus satellite repair facilities.

The US was originally to provide a movable platform for the MSC, but this was cancelled in 1988 for budgetary reasons. The 1993 International Space Station redesign delayed the launch of the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (as it now was called) by at least four years, but the SSRMS remained a crucial part of ISS. In 1994, the Canadians considered canceling the project despite already having spent $500 million on it. The fate of the SSRMS' $150-million robotic 'hand', or Special Multipurpose Dexterous Manipulator, was unclear until April 1997 when the Canadian government announced it would be developed after all. The total cost of the project would be $1 billion.

Article by Marcus Lindroos