As NASA’s plans to reach the International Space Station after the space shuttle retires seemed compromised, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a bill that will allow the purchase seats on the Soyuz spacecraft, which means the American presence in space is still going to continue beyond 2011.

This move was necessary in order to ensure that NASA will continue to have access to the International Space Station until the Constellation program is finished. That is unlikely to happen earlier than 2014, in the most optimistic scenario.

According to the 2000 Iran-Syria Non-Proliferation Act, the U.S. is not allowed to make any service purchases from countries that trade nuclear technology. This would technically include NASA’s purchase of seats aboard Soyuz, since Russia’s position regarding nuclear technology is well known.

Which means NASA needs a special approval from the Congress to book seats aboard Soyuz. Furthermore, the current exemption will expire in 2011, which prompted a lot of questions on the willingness of the Congress to renew the exemption, considering the Russian – Georgian conflict that triggered tensions on diplomatic level between Russia and the U.S.

NASA currently relies on Russia to travel to the International Space Station, and it is forced to do so until the Constellation program is set into motion. However, the recent Russian – Georgian conflict raised a lot of concerns that the Congress might not renew the exemption, which would keep American astronauts away from space until 2015.

The new extension is set to go into effect as of Jan. 1, 2012, and end on July 1, 2016, leaving plenty of time for NASA to continue operations on the International Space Station, as well as continue the extensive work on the Constellation program.

The Constellation program has the main mission to fill the gap that the retirement of the space shift will leave, in August 2006. NASA selected Lockheed Martin Corp. as contractor for the design, development and building of the Orion spacecraft. The initial plans were to launch the Orion capsule with astronauts onboard no later than 2014, and to make a moon landing by 2020.

However, NASA announced that the first flight under the Constellation program will probably take place in early 2015, or with a bit of luck in 2014. The agency motivated that due to some technical and financial difficulties, the initial plans, which indicated a September 2013 end date for the program, had to be delayed.

Committee on Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) said in a statement that although he regrets this has been necessary, the passage of the waiver will ensure uninterrupted access for American astronauts on the International Space Station, and at the same time, will allow the investment made by the American taxpayers to be productively used.